- Title: NIGERIA: Gunmen kill 15 at college in north Nigeria's Kano
- Date: 17th September 2014
- Summary: KANO, NIGERIA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DAMAGED LECTURE THEATRE, BLOOD STAINS AND DEBRIS ON GROUND
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Crime,Conflict
- Reuters ID: LVAB8Y17RHNSLJQVAAYXR7HSMMNW
- Story Text: Gunmen stormed a higher education college in northern Nigeria on Wednesday (September 17), firing on fleeing students and setting off an explosion in an attack that killed at least 15 people and wounded 35, police said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the region's main city of Kano, but the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has repeatedly targeted civilians in the north, is likely to be a prime suspect.
A police spokesman added that officers arrived on the scene and killed two of the attackers.
"I think they had an encounter with some of our policemen on the checkpoint outside this place and they moved into this place. After they fled, after exchanging gunfire with them, they fled that scene...to the further college of education, school premises here. Then the lectures were going on at the time. They entered and two explosives were dropped in the lecture theatre that is facing us here and some gun shots. I think there is another one that was carrying AK47 rifle and some explosives. One of the security agents shot at him and the explosion went off, killing him alone, by defence, there," said police commissioner, Aderinle Shinaba.
"So far, what we have is that 15 people are dead, two among the suicide bombers. Then, four are currently injured and receiving treatment in the hospital," he added.
One eye witness said the attackers had shot at students indiscriminately.
"The people came from the main gate and they entered the new site, art and social sciences. From that gate, they shot people down, with guns. Any person that they would see, they would shoot him. They entered the new site, that is art and social sciences, they entered, and some of them entered the new lecture theatre with a suicide bomb. And the bomb has already been taken and most of the students, they have already died from there," said Hassan.
Insurgents from Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", are fighting to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria.
Western-style schools are a prime target for their attacks, which include several secondary school massacres and the abduction of 200 school girls in April from the village of Chibok.
By contrast, schools teaching Islamic doctrines have been left alone.
Since a military offensive began last year, the Islamists have taken out their anger on civilians in increasingly frequent attacks. They have also branched out to strike in areas far from the rebel strongholds.
At least 82 people were killed in July in a double suicide bombing in the north Nigerian city of Kaduna in July.
The group's leader Abubakar Shekau proclaimed a "Muslim territory" in the northeast after seizing Gwoza near the border with Cameroon, to the east, last month.
President Goodluck Jonathan's administration and the armed forces face mounting criticism that they are failing in the war to counter Boko Haram. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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