By Aliyu Askira
Kano
Eight people, including students and visitors, were killed yesterday when a bomb went off in the School of Hygiene in Kano.
At least 25 other people were reported to have been injured in the blast that occurred at 2:05 p.m.
The students were writing their exams and others processing their registration in order to beat yesterday’s deadline.
The school has been closed.
The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Aderenle Shinaba, told newsmen at the premises of the school that he was in one of the local government areas of the state when he heard about the sad incident and rushed to the place.
He said the police immediately arrested a suspect who was trying to escape from the school in a car.
The suspect had received several cuts inflicted on him by onlookers, he said.
The commissioner added that they evacuated eight bodies of male and female students, who had been cut into pieces, to various hospitals.
Shinaba said the bomber must be aware that the registration of new students into the school would end by yesterday.
The police boss expressed surprise over the nature of the bomb used.
“It didn’t dig a hole, did not cause fire and vehicle was not used.”
He called on all school authorities to fortify their schools to avoid such attack.
Some students told our correspondent that some of them were writing their exams, while others were doing their registration when somebody from nowhere entered their midst and detonated something in a leather bag, which turned out to be a time-bomb.
In the premises of the school, human bones, flesh and other parts were littered on the ground, while there was blood all over the place.
A lecturer in the school, who was crying when Blueprint met him, said he could not say whether some of his children, who were in the school writing their exams, were affected.
Thousands of parents rushed to the school to inquire about their wards.
The place was later cordoned off by security agents.
Kano state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, visited the victims at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital where he was received by the principal of the school, the state commissioner of police and state director of State Security Service (SSS).
Kwankwaso directed that the victims should be treated freely as government would take full responsibility for their treatment.
He prayed to the Almighty God for their quick recovery and give the families of those who lost their lives the fortitude to bear the loss.
Soon after, the governor also paid a visit to the site of the explosion at the school premises, where he described the incident as very unfortunate.
He commended the security agents for arresting one of the suspects at the scene of the attack.
Kwankwaso, however, called on the security agencies in the state to continue working with the state government to make the state free from insurgencies and any form of criminality, pointing out that what happened in the school was “unthinkable, considering the fact that the victims were only seeking for admission into an institution that will train them in offering humanitarian services for the betterment of the society.”
He appealed to people in the state to be vigilant in their places of work, businesses and wherever they find themselves, adding that they should report any suspicious movement to the nearest security agencies in order to prevent loss of lives and properties of innocent people.
He said although this was an act of God which was destined to happen, he urged the security men at the gate to be properly monitoring the entrance properly and screen those that come into the school as doing so would make them detect all criminal elements.
Briefing the governor earlier, the state commissioner of police had revealed that so far eight people died while 25 were injured and receiving medication.
