Scores killed as explosion rocks Yobe school

No fewer than 48 students were killed and 79 others seriously injured when a bomb exploded at the Government Science School, Potiskum, Yobe State on Monday. Our correspondents gathered that the explosion occurred at about 7.45am as the students were queuing up for the normal morning assembly. Eyewitnesses said bodies of the victims were scattered around the assembly ground, while both staff and students ran helter-skelter to rush the wounded to the hospital. Potiskum, the largest commercial town of the state, was thrown into pandemonium as many parents rushed to the school and other schools in the town to pick their children back home. All the schools in the town were desolate as the pupils and teachers had fled. Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the blast is believed to be the handiwork of the Islamic fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, which has been carrying out a reign of terror in the North eastern part of the country. A resident of the town, Ibrahim Ahmed, told newsmen on the telephone, “We heard a loud sound and since then, the area was condoned off but ambulances have been going into the school to pick corpses and take the injured to the hospital. Potiskum has been in pandemonium since 7.45am as a result of the attack on the school. “I can tell you all schools in the town have been closed now as parents have gone to pick their children. There is wailing everywhere especially around the school where the incident happened.” The Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Markus Danladi, who confirmed the incident, said he was on his way to the scene of the incident and promised to give details later.