1st October, 2013
More than 40 students have reportedly been killed following an attack by suspected Boko Haram gunmen on a college in Nigeria’s Yobe State early on Monday.
In what they say is an escalation of attacks on civilians in the run-up to Nigeria’s Independence Day on 1st October, Christian Solidarity Worldwide report than the gunmen, some of whom were dressed in military fatigues, reportedly shot several of the male students in their beds during the attack on the College of Agriculture at Gujba, about 50 kilometres south of the state capital of Damaturu in north-eastern Nigeria. Others were herded outside, separated into groups, and then executed. Most of the victims were Muslims.
The attack follows an earlier incident in Yobe State on 26th September in which Boko Haram gunmen attacked a Christian settlement and killed a pastor and two of his children as well as burning down a church and a number of houses.
There are reports another 21 people were killed the same night in a town in Borno State – six people had died in violence in the same town the night before – while on Saturday at least 11 people were killed in another attack in Kaduna State.
Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of CSW, says the group was "particularly appalled" at the massacre of young men at the agricultural college and marked a "new low" for Boko Haram, whose name means ‘Western education is forbidden’.
"The group has clearly decided to circumvent the state of emergency by focusing on soft targets in remote rural areas, regardless of the religious background of victims," he says. "The Nigerian military must likewise recalibrate security arrangements to counter this brutal new reality."
– DAVID ADAMS
