A suspected Boko Haram attack in Yobe state, north-eastern Nigeria left up to fifty students dead as gun men killed them whilst sleeping.
This latest atrocity follows the recent Westgate Massacre in Kenya by Somalia based Al-Shabab on 21 September. The attack by armed extremists in the Nairobi shopping centre claimed the lives of almost seventy people.
Boko Haram is a Nigerian based fanatical Islamist group founded in 2002. Translated the group’s name means “Western education is forbidden”. It commits terrorist acts across Nigeria in an attempt to overthrow Nigeria’s government to create a state governed by Sharia law.
On 29 September 2013 a survivor of the attack told western media agencies that he and at least 200 other students ran away from the college when they heard gunfire.
Earlier in the week gunmen had killed a pastor, his son and a village head while using explosives to set fire to a church and five homes in Dorawa.
In June, Boko Haram murdered at least nine children in a school on the outskirts of Maiduguri. A month later on 6 July militants killed 29 pupils and a teacher, burning some alive in their hostels, at Mamudo, outside Damaturu.
In May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states and ordered a military operation to suppress the conflict thought to have cost more than 4,000 lives over the past four years.
In a televised address he asked “Why did they kill them? You can ask and ask”
External Links
Nigeria to boost school security after deadly attackKenyas Westgate siege: Number of missing reduced to 39Feud blamed after gunmen kill 26 college students in Nigeria
Westgate Massacre claims over two hundred victims
This latest atrocity follows the recent Westgate Massacre in Kenya by Somalia based Al-Shabab on 21 September. The attack by armed extremists in the Nairobi shopping centre claimed the lives of almost seventy people.
Boko Haram is a Nigerian based fanatical Islamist group founded in 2002. Translated the group’s name means “Western education is forbidden”. It commits terrorist acts across Nigeria in an attempt to overthrow Nigeria’s government to create a state governed by Sharia law.
On 29 September 2013 a survivor of the attack told western media agencies that he and at least 200 other students ran away from the college when they heard gunfire.
Earlier in the week gunmen had killed a pastor, his son and a village head while using explosives to set fire to a church and five homes in Dorawa.
In June, Boko Haram murdered at least nine children in a school on the outskirts of Maiduguri. A month later on 6 July militants killed 29 pupils and a teacher, burning some alive in their hostels, at Mamudo, outside Damaturu.
Boko Haram: Militants
State of Emergency
In May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states and ordered a military operation to suppress the conflict thought to have cost more than 4,000 lives over the past four years.In a televised address he asked “Why did they kill them? You can ask and ask”
External Links
Nigeria to boost school security after deadly attackKenyas Westgate siege: Number of missing reduced to 39Feud blamed after gunmen kill 26 college students in Nigeria
Ligali is not responsible for the content of third party sites
Westgate Massacre claims over two hundred victims
Get involved and help change our world