At least two people were killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack on a
\nuniversity campus in northeast Nigeria, a local resident, a lecturer and
\nemergency services told AFP on Monday.<\/p>\n
But Borno Police Command confirmed that a professor and four other persons
\nwere killed when a male suicide bomber detonated his explosive at the
\nsenior staff quarters of the University of Maiduguri.<\/p>\n
The blast happened at 5:25 am (0425 GMT) at a mosque in the staff quarters
\narea of the University of Maiduguri and is thought to have been carried
\nout by a teenage girl.<\/p>\n
Suspicion will likely fall on the Islamist group Boko Haram, which has
\nrepeatedly used young women and girls as human bombs to target
\nworshippers.<\/p>\n
There were reports locally of a separate explosion but details were not
\nimmediately available.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt exactly 5:25 am, while I was leaving the mosque in my neighbourhood, I
\nheard two explosions,\u201d said one local resident, who asked not to be
\nidentified.<\/p>\n
\u201cI rushed to the university, which is not far from my house. On entering,
\nI saw the mosque in a mess. Three people lay dead, including a young girl,
\nwhose body was badly mutilated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirteen other worshippers were injured.\u201d<\/p>\n
A university lecturer who lives on site confirmed the resident\u2019s account.<\/p>\n
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) tweeted: \u201cA #bomb exploded
\nat the #mosque at the University of #Maiduguri during early morning
\nprayers. Rescue operations ongoing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Access to the university campus has been strictly controlled, with
\ncheckpoints and searches at the gates.<\/p>\n
But the site, on one of the main thoroughfares leading in to and out of
\nthe city, is vast and most areas are badly lit.<\/p>\n
At least 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict since it began in
\n2009 and more than 2.6 million others made homeless.<\/p>\n
Nigeria maintains the insurgency is in its final stages.<\/p>\n
Last month said it had flushed out Boko Haram fighters from their
\nstronghold in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno state, of which Maiduguri
\nis the capital.<\/p>\n
Yet there has been no let-up in attacks both on troops and civilians. On
\nJanuary 8, at least five soldiers were killed when rebels targeted a base
\nin Buni Yadi, in neighboring Yobe state.<\/p>\n
The following day, suicide bombers killed three in Maiduguri.<\/p>\n
EFCC investigates alleged missing N500m Chibok safe school funds<\/p>\n
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed that it is
\nlooking into the petition requesting the anticorruption body to \u201curgently
\nbegin a thorough, transparent and effective investigation into allegation
\nthat N500 million\u00a0Safe School funds for Chibok girls, commissioned by
\nformer Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala\u00a0to rebuild the
\nGovernment Girls School in Chibok, is missing and cannot be accounted
\nfor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition of 27 December 2016 was sent to the EFCC Chair Ibrahim
\nMustafa Magu by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project
\n(SERAP).<\/p>\n
This development was disclosed today by SERAP senior staff attorney
\nTimothy Adewale.<\/p>\n
Adewale said: \u201cWe have received confirmation from the EFCC that the body
\nis looking into our petition. The EFCC has also expressed its
\ndetermination to diligently investigate the allegation of the missing N500
\nmillion Safe School funds for Chibok girls, and sought additional
\ninformation from SERAP.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP appreciates the prompt attention the EFCC has given to the matter,
\nand our organization is committed to sending to the EFCC additional
\ninformation including any available documentary evidence in our possession
\nin order to enable the anticorruption body to get to the root of the
\nmatter, identify suspected perpetrators and bring them to justice, as well
\nas recover any missing funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that SERAP had in its petition urged the EFCC to
\n\u201cinvite for questioning, and name and shame anyone suspected to be
\ninvolved in the alleged diversion, including the contractors allegedly
\nhandling the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition reads in part: \u201cThe allegation that N500m has been lost to
\ncorruption has resulted in denying the girls access to education, and
\nshows the failure of the former President Goodluck Jonathan government to
\nlive up to Nigeria\u2019s commitments under the global Safe School
\nDeclaration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP believes that the diversion of the funds will expose the school to
\nattacks in the future. This is a fundamental breach of the country\u2019s
\nobligations including guarantees of non-repetition, which contribute to
\nprevention and deterrence of future attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP urges the EFCC to work with the\u00a0Independent Corrupt Practices and
\nother Related Offences Commission (ICPC)\u00a0to set up a mechanism to monitor
\ngovernment\u2019s spending of the safe school funds in order to ensure that the
\nfunds are spent exactly to prevent and deter future attacks, and to allow
\nthe girls to go back to school as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is seriously concerned that the school has\u00a0remained in a state of
\ndisrepair since the abduction of the girls, and students have remained at
\nhome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is concerned that the alleged diversion of N500m meant for
\nreconstruction of Government Girls School in Chibok has directly violated
\nthe right to education of the girls, as guaranteed under\u00a0the International
\nCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Nigeria is a
\nstate party.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe diversion has undermined the obligation of the government to take
\nstep to the maximum of its available resources to achieve the right to
\neducation. The alleged diversion also shows a serious breach of
\nanticorruption legislation including the EFCC Act, and Nigeria\u2019s
\ninternational obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption and
\nthe African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption both
\nof which the country has ratified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EFCC should ensure full accountability and bring to justice anyone
\nfound to be responsible for corruption and diversion of safe school funds.
\nThe EFCC should also ensure that all proceeds of corruption are recovered
\nand returned back to the treasury.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis request is based on allegation by Governor Kashim Shettima that N500
\nmillion set aside by the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan,
\nis missing and cannot be accounted for. The funds were released for
\nrebuilding of the Government Girls School in Chibok under the Safe School
\nInitiative programme, which was commissioned former Minister of Finance,
\nDr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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