How Female suicide bomber attacks Niger’s teaching college killing 10

 

At least 10 people had been feared dead in the blast at the Federal College of Education in Kontagora, Niger state, according to a student at the scene.

But state police spokesman Ibrahim Gambari said later that only the bomber died and four others were injured — three students and a bystander.

The act was perpetrated by a female suicide bomber, blowing herself up before she could reach her target, police said.

“An unidentified suicide bomber blew herself up before she could reach her target, which was the school library where many students were reading for their exams,” he told AFP.

The blast came two days after nearly 60 people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram suicide bombing at a school in the town of Potiskum in northeast Yobe state.

Nigerians have come to expect near daily Boko Haram attacks in the far northeast but the latest attack will raise fresh concern if linked to the Islamist uprising.

Niger state has not been touched by the insurgency in more than two years and Kontagora is roughly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) from Boko Haram’s northeastern stronghold.

On the Monday’s Yobe bombing, an official from the all-boys school in Potiskum, who requested anonymity, said the casualty toll had risen to 58 dead and 117 injured.

Police had previously put  fatalities from the bombing at 47 and the wounded at 79.

– Female bombers –

Gambari said earlier while confirming the bombing that teams had been dispatched from the Niger state capital, Minna, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) away.

At the scene, student Mary Okafor said the blast happened as they were sitting end of semester exams and saw everyone rush out of class.

“We saw bodies on the ground between the library and the female hostel. Among the bodies were two dismembered women who we believe were the bombers,” she added.

At least 10 students were killed and several others injured, she said.

“They have all been moved to the general hospital. We have all been asked to vacate the school. The authorities in the town have asked all schools to close,” she added.

– Schools, colleges attacked –

Educational establishments in northern Nigeria have been hit several times by bombings in recent months.

On September 18, at least 13 were killed in Kano during a shootout between police and suspected suicide bombers, again at a teacher training college.

A female suicide bomber killed six people on July 30 when she detonated her explosives at a noticeboard on the campus of the Kano Polytechnic College while students were crowded around it.

The attack was the fourth by a female bomber in the city in a week and prompted the authorities to cancel public celebrations marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The bombings were linked to Boko Haram, which is opposed to so-called “Western education” and wants to create a hardline Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

One of Boko Haram’s deadliest bombings targeting churches came on Christmas Day 2011 in Niger’s town of Madalla, where 44 people were killed at the St Theresa Catholic Church.

Violence in the area has been relatively contained since, with a handful a gun attacks targeting the security forces through 2012.

Nigeria’s prolonged offensive in the northeast has become the centrepiece of its campaign against Boko Haram.

But recent violence outside the restive region, including a jail break in central Kogi state and Wednesday’s blast in Niger highlight the wide reach of the Islamist rebels.