United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has strongly condemned the killing of more than 50 students by gunmen at the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe State.
Suspected extremists gunned down the students and injured several others as they slept in their dormitories during a night attack early on Sunday.
According to the provost of the college, Molima Idi Mato, the assault began at about 1.00 a.m. when the extremists opened fire on the students.
Ban, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, extended his condolence to the families of the bereaved and to the government and people of Nigeria on the tragic incident.
The secretary-general said he was alarmed at the increasing brutality and frequency of attacks targeted at students and teachers in the northern part of the country.
Ban, who demanded an immediate end to such outrageous and senseless crimes, said that ‘‘there can be no justification for such violence’’.
The statement said that the secretary-general called for swift justice on the perpetrators and more efforts to prevent similar attacks as well as adequate protection of people and properties.
Meanwhile, the Amnesty International has urged authorities in Nigeria to take urgent measures to protect schools and students in the north-eastern part of the country following the fresh attack.
“Since 2012, we have seen an escalation of lethal attacks against students and schools. On top of the tragic loss of life, children are being prevented from accessing education. It is high time the authorities not only investigated these deplorable incidents and took those responsible to justice but took measures to prevent them,” said Lucy Freeman, Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.
In a related development, as Nigeria celebrated its 53rd year of independence on Tuesday, the United States has expressed its determination to stand with all Nigerians to reject the heinous violence being perpetrated by Boko Haram and other extremist groups.
The US, in a statement signed by Jen Psaki of the Office of the Spokesperson, Washington, DC, said “these attacks on innocent civilians have no place in a democratic society.”
According to the statement, “following last week’s heinous attack in Benisheikh, where more than 160 people were shot and slaughtered, this weekend’s attacks in Yobe State took the lives of more than 50 innocent students and civilians.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in these senseless acts of violence.
“We encourage the government of Nigeria to work together with the families of the victims and affected communities to find and bring those responsible for this deplorable violence to justice, and to enhance the protection of civilians to ensure respect for the rule of law.”
Also, the US congratulated the people of Nigeria on the occasion of the 53rd Independence Day anniversary.
The statement, tagged: “Nigeria National Day Message,” signed by the Secretary of State, John Kerry, said “on behalf of President (Barack) Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Nigeria as you celebrate your Independence Day on October 1.
“A warm friendship connects the Nigerian and American people, reflecting our shared values of democracy, economic growth, security, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
“Our partnership is strong because of our people. As the proverb tells us, ‘If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’
“On the 53rd anniversary of your independence, I wish all Nigerians a safe and prosperous future.”
Meanwhile, the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, has described the brutal killing of students of the College of Agriculture as an attack against Nigeria.
He said the carnage in Borno State “reminds us of the sinister nature of the enemy our nation now faces.”
“Nigeria is under attack and the earlier those in charge realised this, the quicker the situation can be arrested.
“In terms of security, the present is not safe, neither is the future secured,” Tinubu said.
Tinubu condemned the carnage in a personally signed release on Monday, saying “it is unacceptable and indefensible under any guise. It is an act that must be punished.
“As a father and leader, I am deeply saddened by the senseless killings of innocent students.
“There should be no mistake at this somber moment. Those who launched these attacks did not launch them at the people they killed. They knew not the names of their victims or who they were.
“The dead were just unfortunate souls who happened to be close enough to murder.
“The real targets of these massacres were our nation, society and any semblance of civilised, modern life,” Tinubu said.
He charged that as a nation, “we must remain steadfast in the belief that enlightenment and progress is best for our people.
Tinubu stated further in the release: “The killings at the College of Agriculture were particularly jarring. Under cover of darkness, evil crept unto a campus of higher learning, turning it into a place of slaughter.
“These murderers snatched the lives of young people who were just entering the fullness of life. The attackers fell upon them so early that many of the students were still in bed.
“These young people only wanted an education to improve their future and that of the nation. They were armed only with this desire and with the tools of students. They had done no one any harm.”
“Yet, their attackers executed them in the cruelest fashion. This is terror in its basest form.
“By this act, the crazed and armed menace we face tells us that attending school, attempting to get education, is now a capital offence. Those guilty of seeking to learn are to be executed.
“This is a dire affront to fundamental humanity. It is also a frontal attack on our quest for economic development and social progress. Those that did this seek to cast a veil of fear and ignorance over Nigeria.
“These killers want us to hide in the shadow of fear and live in the cave of ignorance. We must be brave enough to tell them ‘no.’
“No matter how they try to frighten us, we shall walk in the light of learning, justice, hope and tolerance, unity and progress. What we face is nothing less than a contest for the soul of the nation.
“We dare not lose the contest. These young people died just because they wanted to learn and live better.
“We can’t allow their deaths to be in vain. Thus, we must rededicate ourselves that all of our children shall learn and live better because of the education they shall receive.
“We must look beyond the deaths and spilled blood of these innocent children. In times like these, it is easy to give up and recede into our fears. Yet, we must be of good courage. We must not give way to sorrow or despair. We must forge ahead with our best plans and preparations for the people.
“That said we must beseech the federal government to tend better to our security. I make this not as a partisan jab. I make this as a Nigerian who sees the larger danger lurking behind these attacks.
“These murderers seek to shutter the educational system in the north. Should they accomplish this, they will only attack another social institution, then another, until all are flattened. They intend to make Nigeria desolate.
“In their warped minds, this will be paradise. Paradise for them will be purgatory for the rest of us.
“With grim determination that Nigeria shall overcome this pestilence and that justice shall ultimately prevail, we cannot give up and retreat from the task of governance and building this nation.
“We must be of good courage. We cannot allow their violence to dictate the path that we must go.
“They see a nation they want to destroy. I see a nation we should build. We shall win. They may have guns and terror. But they lack the moral force to stop us from building the nation we seek.
“We have justice and right. We shall win. They shall lose and get swept into the wash of history. They only issue is how long will it take and how many lives will be lost before these evil folds.
“Again, this where the federal government must become more proactive in developing a comprehensive law enforcement, intelligence-gathering and economic incentives strategy that checkmates this plague.
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