KANO (AFP) \u2013 The death toll from a school massacre in Yobe by suspected
\nBoko Haram Islamists on Tuesday has risen to 43, a hospital source in the
\ntroubled northeastern Yobe state said.
\n\u201cAmbulances have been bringing in bodies from Federal Government College
\nin (the town of Buni Yadi,\u201d a senior medical source at the Sani Abacha
\nSpecialist Hospital in Yobe\u2019s capital Damaturu told AFP. \u201cSo far 43 bodies
\nhave been brought and are lying at the morgue,\u201d he said, requesting
\nanonymity as he was not authorised to discuss death tolls.
\nYobe\u2019s police chief Sanusi Rufai told AFP that 29 people were killed but
\nit was not immediately clear if all of the dead were students.
\nRufai said he was en route to Buni Yadi with Yobe\u2019s covernor Ibrahim
\nGeidam to assess the extent of the damage.
\nYobe is one of three northeastern states which was placed under emergency
\nrule in May last year when the military launced a massive operation to
\ncrush the Boko Haram uprising.
\nAt least 40 students were killed in September at an agriculture training
\ncollege in Yobe after Boko Haram gunmen stormed a series of dorms in the
\nmiddle of the night and sprayed gunfire on sleeping students.
\nMore than 1,000 people have been killed in the northeast since the
\nemergency measures were imposed, despite the enhanced military presence.
\nBoko Haram, declared a terrorist organisation by Nigeria and the United
\nStates, has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria\u2019s
\nmainly Muslim north.
\nGeidam and the governor of neighbouring Borno state, Kashim Shettima, have
\nfiercely criticised the military\u2019s record in combatting Boko Haram,
\ninsisting that more resources were needed to defeat the emboldened and
\nincreasingly well-armed insurgents.
\nIn a video sent to AFP last week, Boko Haram\u2019s purported leader, Abubakar
\nShekau, said he would continue his relentless campaign of violence on
\nanyone who supports democracy or so-called Western values.
\nShekau, declared a global terrorist by the United States, also threated to
\nwiden the insurgency outside the group\u2019s northeastern stronghold with
\nattacks in the oil-producing, southern Niger Delta region.
\nNigeria is Africa\u2019s top oil producer and an Islamist attack in the
\ncountry\u2019s key economic region would pile further pressure on President
\nGoodluck Jonathan, who has faced scathing criticism over his handling of
\nthe Boko Haram crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KANO (AFP) \u2013 The death toll from a school massacre in Yobe by suspected Boko Haram Islamists on Tuesday has risen to 43, a hospital source in the troubled northeastern…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n