The school’s principal, Mr. Buba Sanda Mustapha, who relived Monday’s attack, said the bomber struck as the pupils prepared for the morning assembly. He said yesterday’s death raised the toll to 36 and not 47 as police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu announced on Monday.
The principal, who said a boy died at the Federal Medical Centre in Azare, Bauchi State where he was referred to for better treatment because his condition was critical, noted that no teacher died.
He said: “The incident took place at exactly 7.48 am when the pupils were waiting on the assembly ground. All of them were in front of this place, waiting for us to come to assembly. All of a sudden, we heard a heavy sound and our students started shouting and running in all directions.
“Immediately I saw this, I tried to inform the police and the JTF. I called for my car and we used it to convey the children to the hospital. Other people came in with their tricycle, packing both the dead and the wounded to the hospital.
“We thank God that the hospital is very close to the school; if not, it would have been very difficult. We spent the whole day in the hospital, trying to know the condition of the boys.
“The first casualties that we took to the hospital were given first aid. Those that sustained multiple fractures were referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Azare in Bauchi State and the Federal Medical Centre in Nguru.
“The casualties as at yesterday were 81. 41 of them taken to the two medical centres; others were left here. Only one of those admitted here is left now.
“According to our statistics, as at yesterday, we had only 35 dead. Today we got a report that one of our pupils at Azare could not make it; so we have 36 dead now.
“No teacher was affected because all the teachers were in front of my office waiting for us to proceed to the assembly when it happened.”
The General Hospital, Potiskum also insisted that the death toll was 35 before yesterday’s death.
Hospital Secretary Alhaji Lawan said the hospital received 32 bodies brought from the blast scene. Three pupils, he said, died during treatment.
Lawan explained that the hospital attended to 116 and referred 41; 69 were admitted in the hospital.
Minister of State for Education Prof Viola Onwuliri condemned the attack.
In a statement in Abuja, Mrs. Onwuliri described the incident as callous, inhuman and satanic wondering the crime the innocent pupils would have committed to deserve such atrocious act.
She said: “My condolences go to President Goodluck Jonathan, the government and good people of Yobe State, most especially to the families of the bomb blast victims, I pray God Almighty to grant your families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, may the good Lord receive their souls and may they rest in perfect peace.
“It is a pity that we have some evil-minded people among us and it is a greater pity that innocent children are targets in such evil and dastardly menace. Light will surely prevail over darkness.
Mrs. Onwuliri appealed to all Nigerians to rise to the challenge of the security situation in the country and urged courage among compatriots. “We must never surrender our collective values and sanctity of human life to the enemies of the nation”, she said.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) frowned at what it described as the inability of the Federal Government to secure schools.
The NUT lamented that innocent pupils are vulnerable to heinous activities of insurgents.
National President Comrade Michael Olukoya said the union was outraged with the suicide attack.
Olukoya, in a statement, recalled that the incident made it the fifth of such gruesome attacks on schools, leaving so many pupils dead and scores of others maimed and injured.
He said: “The leadership of NUT is outraged by the inability of the nation’s security operatives to sufficiently address the frequent bombing incidents in schools which has again occurred at Government Science Technical School Potiskum, Yobe State in the morning of 10th November, 2014 with over 50 fatalities and over 70 injured.
“This incident makes it the fifth attack on school in the state within the last one year and the Union strongly demands for coordinated actions to protect our children and the school environment.”
Signed by the NUT Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Hwande, the statement noted that teachers were greatly traumatised by the spate of attacks on schools and wanton killing of students and teachers by the terrorists.
The NUT said it was worried that it is now about 212 days since over 200 Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram without hope of their rescue to continue with their education.
The NUT President urged the government to expedite implementation of the Safe Schools Initiative as to improve the security situation in the nation’s schools, especially those in the Northeast, making schools safe and the students protected.
Olukoya called on all well-meaning Nigerians urge the insurgents to leave children alone and allow them to live their lives. “The children are ignorant hence their lives should be spared.”
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