By order of local authorities, schools in Nigeria’s northeast Yobe state have been closed to protect students and teachers from suspected Boko Haram terrorist attacks.
According to the Associated Press, children have been specifically targeted for attack by the Islamic militants who have killed “48 students and seven teachers” since June.
During June itself they attacked “at least two schools, killing 16 students and two teachers.”
Yobe Governor Ibrahim Gaidam issued the order to close the school after he visited students with burn and gunshot attacks from one school in Potiskum. In that attack militants lit a dormitory on fire, burning some children to death.
Boko Haram’s “stronghold is Maiduguri, the capital of neighboring Borno state.” Maiduguri is approximately 145 miles from Yobe.
Recent attacks allegedly carried out by Boko Haram seem to indicate strategic targeting of “unsuspecting students and school officials who unable to fight back.”
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