Students Apprehend Fleeing Suspect In Yobe School Attack

• Blast Kills Three Students, Bomber
• 14 Others Wounded

A SUICIDE bomber and three students were feared killed in an attack on the College of Administration and Business Studies in Potiskum, Yobe State yesterday.

Fourteen other students sustained injuries during the blast and subsequent gunfire which occurred around 8am, while trying to escape through the college fence.

Potiskum is the largest city in Yobe and is 100 kilometres west of Damaturu, the state capital.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Marcus Danladi disclosed in a telephone interview with The Guardian yesterday in Damaturu that there were “blast and sporadic shootings” by suspected Boko Haram bombers and three other gunmen at the college.

He said his men were able to arrest one of the gunmen (names withheld), after residents and some volunteer students gave him a hot chase and handed him over for further interrogations.

“What happened this morning at the college was that after its premises was bombed by one of the suicide bombers, sporadic shootings ensued, but some gallant residents and students were able to arrest the fleeing suspect, and arrested him before handing him to our men in Potiskum,” Danladi said.

He added that of the 17 students injured in the blast and shootings, three died of gunshot wounds on their way to the Federal MedicalvCentre (FMC), Nguru for treatment.

Salihu Ibrahim, a resident of Potiskum, also said that the attacks began at about 8.15am when one of the gunmen in disguise, pretended to be urinating at the gate and started shooting sporadically at students in classrooms.

“Two minutes after the shootings, one of the suicide bombers detonated an Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) strapped to his back at the college car park, before many students tarted to scamper for safety over the fence and rear exists,” said Ibrahim in a telephone chat.

“All the injured have been taken to Nguru Hospital for treatment. Our volunteer youths were able to arrest one of the suicide bombers and handed him over to the military and Police for further investigations,” added Ibrahim.

A source at the Information Department of the college also told The Guardian that the bomber stormed the school around 8am and started shooting sporadically at the gate before entering the school, shooting at students and teachers at will.

The source said efforts were made to get hold of the bomber whose ammunitions were noticed to be running after prolonged shootings, but to avoid being caught red handed, he detonated the IED he was carrying, killing himself in the process.

“I strongly commend the people who stood resolute during the attack in an effort to catch him red handed after noticing his ammunition was running out”, the source added.

Another source said a second bomb exploded in the college dormitory, but caused little damage, as the students apparently were already in classrooms.

Another resident of Potiskum, Faruk Ismail, said: “I heard a loud explosion and saw black fumes from the school rising to the sky. While we were running away for our dear lives, I heard gunshots from the direction of the school.”

This is the insurgents’ first school attack since a multinational offensive drove them out of towns and villages they seized last year.

Nigeria’s military have been on the onslaught against the terrorist and have chased them to their last stronghold in the vast Sambisa Forest in Borno State and rescued over 700 women and children so far.

t least 40 students were killed when Boko Haram attacked the school last year. No group immediately claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack.