Varsity suspends exams
It’s callous, say Buhari, Saraki, Dogara, Atiku
By Abdullahi M. Gulloma, Taiye Odewale, Bode Olagoke, Joshua Egbodo, Abuja, Sadiq Abubakar, Maiduguri
A 7-year-old male suicide bomber, in the early hours of yesterday, hit a mosque in the University of Maiduguri, Borno state, killing Professor Aliyu Mani of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and three other members of the university community, leaving 15 others injured.
And to this end, the university authority has suspended the ongoing first semester examinations for 24 hours.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Abubakar Njodi, said examinations scheduled for yesterday were suspended as the institution mourns those that died in the attack.
Njodi disclosed this while receiving the governor, Kashim Shettima, who led a delegation of the state government on a condolence visit to the university.
He said: “From the reports I have been receiving since morning, we have 15 people that have been taken to the hospital from the mosque where it happened. Two of those in the hospital are in critical conditions, of which one of them as I was made to understand, is yet to be out of the operation theatre.
“We lost three persons; it was earlier reported to be two, but later the body of Professor Mani was discovered after others were taken to the hospital. That was why there were discrepancies in the figures.”
Apart from three people killed in the mosque bomb explosion, another suicide bomber was shot after which her explosive detonated, killing her at another gate of the university, the police and the emergency agency, NEMA, have said.
Njodi said the university was lucky that the loss was not as colossal as it could have been, had the second suicide bomber made her way to a populated area.
“The attackers were two. One of them went to the mosque where he detonated his bomb and the other was spotted trying to scale the security before the bomb went off.
“So, we have to suspend the exams today (Monday), because we could not have had a stable mind to go and write exams under this grieving condition. So, we have to suspend the exams to allow even the security do all the necessary checks they may want to do.”
The Chief Security Officer of the university, Major Yakubu Ibrahim (retd), said the second suicide bomber, a teenage girl, was spotted near the 5th Gate of the institution.
He said she was seen speaking to herself, and when asked to identify herself, she detonated the bomb, killing herself.
Ibrahim did not, like the police, however, admit she was shot before the explosion.
Shettima commiserated with the university community on the incident, especially the death of Professor Mani.
He said: “It is highly commendable that you have suspended the exams for a day. This would allow the security to comb the nooks and crannies of the university in order to avert further occurrence.”
The governor called for stricter security within and around the institution, promising to rebuild the destroyed mosque.
Buhari
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, has condemned the attack, expressing sympathy and condolences to the university community, families of the victims and the government and people of Borno state.
He said the appalling attack on a revered place of worship and Ivory Tower showed that the perpetrators had no true understanding of Islam, stressing that the “despicable acts of terrorism are cowardly, criminal, unjustifiable and punishable before God Almighty and the laws of the land.”
The president reassured communities in Borno and others in the North-east that the administration would continue to ensure that terrorism never triumphs over peace-loving Nigerians.
He wished those injured in the attack a speedy and full recovery, and comfort for families of the dead.
Saraki
In a similar message, Senate President Bukola Saraki has decried the loss of valuable human lives and destruction of property during the incident.
Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicly, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, decried the loss of valuable human lives and destruction of property during the incident.
He expressed concern over the rising trend of isolated Boko Haram attacks on soft targets since the liberation of the Sambisa Forest which used to be the stronghold of the insurgents by the military.
Such attacks, he said, had created fears among Nigerians that in spite of the obvious defeat of the insurgents, pockets of attacks are still being perpetrated by the fleeing remnants of the outlaws.
He also noted that the attack on the university provides a cogent reason why security should be further strengthened around all educational and allied institutions to prevent reoccurrence.
“This attack calls for urgent security measures for all potential targets across the country so as to prevent the insurgents from taking undue advantage of the emerging peaceful atmosphere across the country”, he said.
While praying God to grant repose to the souls of the departed and quick recovery for the injured, he called on Nigerians to be more vigilant and security conscious.
Dogara
In a related development, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, said the attacks were worrisome.
Describing the incident as the height of wickedness, barbarism, callousness and ungodliness, the Speaker lamented that despite the military feat which dislodged the terrorists from their enclave, the insurgents could still find the audacity to carry out such a dastardly act.
A statement by his spokesman, Mr. Turaki Hassan, said Dogara also saw the latest bomb attack as “yet another evil dimension taken by the terrorists.”
He urged the security operatives not to be deterred by the new tactics of the terrorists, but to step up their operations as to consolidate on the gains so far made in the fight against terrorism.
Atiku
Also, former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, described the blasts as “a dangerous development to North-east education sector.”
In a statement released by his media office in Abuja yesterday, he noted that following the February 2014 attack on the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, in which 40 male students were murdered, as well as the April 2014 kidnapping of over 200 girls from their school dormitory in Chibok, Nigeria has not experienced any such act of terrorism perpetrated within a school.
“The attack on UNIMAID is not just about a bomb exploding in a mosque. Once again, education in the northeast of Nigeria is under attack,” he said.
Atiku added that lack of education was one of the most alarming threats to security in the North-east, as many of the terrorists have been shown to be people who have either never had the chance or ability to read the Quran for themselves and interpret the tenets of Islam beyond the false teachings of their terrorist commanders.
“A sound education will provide our youth with the ability to analyse and make informed decisions, an opportunity that many young people in the northeast of Nigeria do not have at present, making it easy for false teachers to control them.”
He condoled with the families of the deceased, students and staff of UNIMAID over the loss of lives and prayed for the quick recovery of the injured.
