YOBE ATTACK: You’ll Burn In Hell, Jonathan Tells Sect; Borno Shut Down Schools!

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday described the killing of over 40 students and a teacher of Government secondary school in Yobe state by suspected boko-haram members as 'horrific, wicked and barbaric; saying any person who targets innocent children as a result of emotional dysfunction will certainly burn in hell.


Meanwhile, a public affairs analyst, Mahmoud Othman, has advised the Borno state government to also shut down schools in the state following the deadly attack on Government Secondary School Mamudo in Yobe state which led to the death of 25 students and 1 teacher.



While speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, warned that “you have to save the children. You have to save education.”
The military Joint Task Force (JTF) on Sunday confirmed that students of the school and a teacher were killed on Saturday by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

Mr Othman who described the attack as ‘unprecedented and uncalled for’ faulted the continued directive that all telecommunication systems be disconnected as a result of the military onslaught against the Islamic sect in states where state of emergency was declared.

The availability of mobile network would have allowed the students to call for help, he said.

Last week’s attack on a school was by suspected Boko Haram members, who are described as a group of religious extremists, a claim Mr Othman disagrees with.

“The tenets of Islam does not really allow anybody to attack anybody” he notes, implying that the attack has nothing to do with religion. According to him, the situation in Northern Nigeria as a state of anarchy.


Soft Targets
Mr Othman accused security agents of being lax about their duties and averred that schools should not have been left unguarded after other schools had been previously attacked.

“If the security agents are doing their jobs all this will not be happening.”
He said there should have been check points near places regarded as ‘soft targets’ such as the boarding school were the attack was carried out.
“The security people in that corner of the country are very scared of themselves because they are number one targets.”

He called on the security agents in the region to be at alert because members of the insurgents take note of their weakness such as chatting on duty
“Every security agent in the north east of Nigeria and even other parts of Nigeria (because attack can take place anywhere) should be on the alert. They should not behave as if nothing is happening”

On whether the curfew placed on three Northern states should be relaxed or heightened, he said the security agents should do their jobs properly.
He cautioned that everybody who is not a member or supporter of the extremist group is a target.