Photo: First Lady Received National ID Card

First Lady Patience Jonathan  yesterday as she received her National Electronic Identity Card in Abuja.

David Mark shuts down National Assembly till November 25th

Senate President, David Mark has ordered the shut down of the National Assembly till Tuesday next week, November 25th, following this morning's chaos in which the Speaker of the House of Reps, Aminu Tambuwal, and other lawmakers were allegedly teargassed and prevented from entering the Assembly complex. Mark announced this moments ago at the Senate plenary session.

The IG of police has also been ordered to appear before the House to explain what happened today

Source:  Linda Ikeji

Teargas at the National Assembly: Speaker finally gains access into House

Speaker of the House of Reps Aminu Tambuwal has finally gained access into the House Chamber. There was chaos outside the Assembly complex this morning as police tried to prevent him and other lawmakers from entering the complex. Some had to scale the gates after all entry points were sealed off leaving only one open where many were thoroughly frisked and some turned back. There are allegations that most of the lawmakers turned back were from the APC. The police at some point even fired teargas and some lawmakers reportedly fainted.

Tambuwal, who had been prevented from driving through the second gate after passing through the first gate of the Assembly complex was smuggled into the Chamber by loyalists who overpowered security operatives at the second and third gate. The House has now gone into executive session.


Pictures after the cut...








 
Tanbuwal after being Tear-Gassed




Tear Gas all over National Assembly

Happy 57th Birthday to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

This is wishing our president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan more prosperous years on earth.

 Happy Birthday, Sir!

Heavy SSS presence at National Assembly; lawmakers scale gate into complex (photos)

There's currently heavy police and SSS presence at the National Assembly in Abuja as the House of Reps reconvene today to discuss the proposed state of Emergency extension in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno state. Some people are saying that the security operatives are there to deny the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, access into the complex. A lot of other lawmakers were also denied access into the complex. Some of them are pictured scaling the locked gates to enter the complex. A Rep member shared these photos on his Facebook page to let people know what's going on. See more photos after the cut...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Linda Ikeji

Picture of the day

Child fighter tormented by ISIS

Just two weeks ago, Yasir was regularly strapped into an explosive vest and handed a pistol, an AK-47 and a radio to stand guard at an ISIS base in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.

Yasir -- not his real name -- is just 15 and an ISIS child soldier. When we first met, he was clearly nervous, his hands slightly quivering as he picked up his cup of tea.

Understandable, given all he has been through and the twisted mental maze he is trying to navigate.

Yasir had followed his father to be with the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front. When ISIS took over their area, father and son swore allegiance to ISIS.

"I spent a month without seeing my family or anyone that I knew," Yasir recalls. "It was forbidden to see or speak to anyone."

He says there were about 100 children and for a month they were kept isolated from all that they knew and loved, and not allowed even to see or speak to their families.

Rather, they were entrenched in intense religious indoctrination. There were daily lessons on the violent and radical version of Islam practiced by ISIS.

Rigorous military training was also a daily feature of their lives. He says: "We used to crawl under webbing. There was fire above it, and we would be firing our weapons. We would jump through large metal rings and the trainers would be firing at our feet and telling us if we stop we will be shot."

He says the trainers would have them run for 2 kilometers. "I was very careful not to stop running, I didn't stop, even if I was exhausted, out of breath, I didn't stop."

ISIS posts videos and pictures on the Internet bragging about its so-called "cubs of the Islamic State."

While there are no firm numbers on how many children are part of ISIS, the United Nations says there are confirmed reports of children as young as 12 undergoing military training.

Yasir admits he missed his parents. It was the first time he had stayed away from them, but he says he and the other boys would laugh, joke and talk about their training.

After a month he was sent home and began to regularly report for duty.

"When we arrived they gave us guns and the explosive belt and the radio," he says. "We would get calls from the checkpoints alerting us [when] the ISIS VIPs were coming. Anyone who wasn't a VIP, we would pick up our guns and stop them."

But his mother would beg him to leave.

Yasir says: "She would say that I am too young. 'Please leave, you have nothing to do with this.' I would tell her that this is the jihad that we all must do."

He says the first time he saw a beheading he didn't eat for two days, repulsed by the scene but not the actual act.

He admits he was afraid the explosive belt he wore would accidentally detonate if he was hit by shrapnel.

He also felt proud, strong and filled with a sense of purpose.

But his father realized he had to save his son and himself. He decided to defect and tricked Yasir into leaving with him for Turkey.

Yasir says: "I was asking him 'why are you doing this? What happened?' My father turned to me and said they are not on the right religious track."

The Yasir we met appears to have a gentle demeanor, but he's clearly confused, struggling to define what is right and wrong, and wrest himself from the psychological damage ISIS has done.

He initially says he wants to go back to ISIS because his friends are there, and he defends some of the strict interpretations of Islam, but he also says: "I am discovering over time they have no religion."

Toward the end of our interview, he tells us he regrets having joined them.

Yasir has a chance to emerge from the hold of ISIS, to return to the Arabic and math-loving schoolboy he was before the war.

But that is not the case for the other children firmly in the grasp of ISIS, living under their rule, easily manipulated and lured toward the terrorist organization.

Source: CNN

ISIS Introduces New Currency

 

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has disclosed plans to mint its own currency, in a bid to to stay away from the “tyrant’s financial system”.

In a statement released on Thursday, ISIS said it was planning to mint its currency in gold, silver and copper. The currency will also include seven coins: two gold, three silver and two copper. According to the terrorist group, the plan is “purely dedicated to God” as it will separate Muslims from the “global economic system that is based on satanic usury.

Tougher times ahead, says Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

    

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday said the country would this month begin to feel the impact of the falling global oil prices, which started in June.

Consequently, she said the country needed to brace for tougher times ahead by reviewing its expenditures and building economic buffers through budgets that would be based on modest oil prices.

According to her, sound macroeconomic management is crucial to Nigeria at this time, while also emphasising the need to plug all revenue leakages.

The minister spoke in Lagos at the Africa Financial Summit organised by the Institute of International Finance and Access Bank Plc.

“We have not seen the impact of the falling oil prices in Nigeria; it will start this month. We have to drive the non-oil revenue base to be able to weather the storm that is coming,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

She, however, said Nigeria was not alone in the coming economic storm, pointing out that a large number of African countries that relied on commodity export as the mainstay of their economies would also be affected by the global fall in the prices of such commodities.

The minister said the global fall in the prices of export commodities such as gold, iron ore and agricultural produce such as cocoa, cotton and coffee was bound to affect most African economies, which relied on commodity export as the major source of revenue.

Quoting from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Okonjo-Iweala said the ratio of export commodity to total merchandise was very high in a large number of African countries.

According to her, it is 60 per cent in South Africa; 89 per cent in Zambia and Ghana; 96 per cent in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and 83 per cent in Nigeria.

She said based on the 2013 data, 70 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s merchandise exports went to regions that were currently facing slowdown.

Ten per cent of commodity exports from the sub-Saharan Africa go to the US; 26.5 per cent to Europe; three per cent to Japan; 21 per cent to China; and three per cent to Brazil, according to the minister.

Consequently, Okonjo-Iweala said there was an urgent need for Nigeria and other African countries to explore other means of shoring up their revenues in the face of the falling prices of export commodities.

She said borrowing to fund annual budgets would not be a better option for most African countries.

“I strongly urge other African countries to look into other directions. We need to build our economic buffers. Of course, there will be pressure to borrow in the face of falling commodity prices, but we cannot afford to borrow. There is a need to drive domestic resource mobilisation,” the minister add




Source: Punch Online

Another military helicopter crashes in Yola

Another military helicopter crashes in Yola

Another military helicopter crashed last night between Girei & Modibbo near the Federal University of Technology Yola, Adamawa state. Eye witnesses said the helicopter stopped abruptly midair while flying then crashed into a ball of fire. The Nigerian military are yet to say anything about the crash

Lives Lost as Boko Haram attack Chibok again

Boko Haram reportedly launched an attack on Chibok community in Borno state yesterday night November 14th killing several people.

Some residents of the village who spoke with Sahara Reporters said that the sect members shot several people dead and injured many before heading to the village square to announce that they have taking over the town as one of their caliphates.

Nigeria army 'retakes Mubi from Boko Haram'

A recent Boko Haram video showed fighters parading an armoured vehicle in an unidentified town

The Nigerian army has retaken the key town of Mubi from militant Islamist group Boko Haram, the regional governor told the BBC.

Boko Haram seized Mubi, the second largest town in the north-eastern Adamawa state, in October, renaming it Madinatul Islam - City of Islam.
It was the biggest town under the group's control.
Residents there said militants imposed Islamic Sharia law and carried out executions and amputations.
Adamawa state governor Bala Ngilari said government forces had recaptured the town, although there was no independent confirmation of this.
Some reports said Boko Haram had withdrawn after looting the town, rather than as the result of direct fighting.
However, Mr Ngilari's chief of staff, Chibudo Babbi, told the BBC Hausa Service that remnants of the group were being flushed out of Mubi by the military.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has declared a caliphate in areas he controls

Residents were being told to exercise caution during the operation, he added.
The BBC's Muhammad Kabir Muhammad in Abuja says that if Nigerian troops have recaptured the town, it will be a rare piece of good news from the region for the army.
Many Nigerians, though, may not be quick to celebrate this success, he says, given that many other towns and villages are still under the group's control.
In August, Boko Haram said it had established an Islamic state in areas it controls in north-eastern Nigeria.
Analysts say the group has changed tactics in recent months by holding on to territory rather than launching hit-and-run attacks.
In April, the militants captured more than 200 girls from a boarding school in the town of Chibok, in Borno state.
Countries such as China, France, the UK and US have sent military assistance to help find the girls but they have not yet been rescued.

 

Source: BBC

Islamic State: 'Baghdadi message' issued by jihadists

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has rarely appeared in public

Islamic State has released an audiotape it says was recorded by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, days after reports that he had been killed or injured.

In the recording, released via social media, the speaker says IS fighters will never cease fighting "even if only one soldier remains".
Correspondents say the recording appears authentic and recent.
Reports that Baghdadi had been badly injured followed US-led air strikes near the Iraqi city of Mosul last week.
The 17-minute recording makes no direct reference to the air strike, but mentions some developments that have occurred since.
The speaker, said to be Baghdadi, calls on supporters of Islamic State to "erupt volcanoes of jihad" across the world.
He also calls for attacks in Saudi Arabia - describing Saudi leaders as "the head of the snake" - and says that the US-led military campaign in Syria and Iraq is failing.
In the recording, he mentions US President Barack's Obama decision to deploy an extra 1,500 troops to Iraq - a move that was announced after the air strike on Mosul.
There are also new pledges of allegiance from jihadist groups in Libya, Egypt and Yemen that also occurred in recent days.
"O soldiers of the Islamic State... erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere. Light the earth with fire against all dictators," Baghdadi says.
Islamic State has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq since June, declaring a caliphate over territory it controls.

Source: BBC

ISIS after al-Baghdadi: What happens if the terror leader is killed?

He runs his terror group like a CEO -- with spreadsheets on missions, assassinations and captured assets.

And reports from Iraq's government suggest ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been hit in airstrikes over the weekend -- though it's not clear whether he was wounded, whose strikes he may have been hit by and in what part of the country he may have been struck.

Was ISIS leader hit in airstikes?

Is Obama's war against ISIS illegal?

Photos: The ISIS terror threat

But if al-Baghdadi is dead, what would happen to the radical Sunni militant group?

Don't expect ISIS to just crumble.

"It will morph, and new leaders will emerge," retired U.S. Maj. Gen. James "Spider" Marks said. "In fact, bear in mind that ISIS leadership originated from Saddam's military. These are very conventionally trained, very professional leaders."

Odds are al-Baghdadi or the Shura Council, which handles the group's religious and military affairs, has planned this scenario in advance.

"ISIS likely has a clear line of succession," said Lauren Squires of the Institute for the Study of War. "This is a bureaucratic organization with a deep bench ... either Baghdadi has signed off on the line of succession himself or the Shura Council has agreed to a line of succession."

Top two deputies

Al-Baghdadi has a Cabinet of advisers as well as two top deputies -- Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, who oversees ISIS' mission in Iraq, and Abu Ali al-Anbari, who is in charge of operations in Syria, according to the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.

Both men are veteran Iraqi military officials who served under Saddam Hussein.

"These people who had previously served in Saddam Hussein's army were extremely brutal because Saddam Hussein's regime was very brutal," said Peter Neumann of King's College. "But they also inherited the disciplines and the military skills that are now benefiting ISIS in its campaign against its enemies."

Analysts say al-Turkmani could make a strong case to become the leader of ISIS if al-Baghdadi is taken out.

"He would also have had to have a lot of outstanding qualities either in the political or the military field, and that certainly makes him a potential contender," Neumann said.

Beneath each deputy are 12 governors for both Iraq and Syria. Those governors handle financial, military, legal, media and intelligence councils, among others.

What's interesting about the bureaucratic hierarchy of ISIS is that it looks a lot like those of some Western countries whose values it rejects -- except there's no democracy involved and there's a council tasked with considering who to behead.

Another possibility

Then there's Syrian Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the chief spokesman for ISIS who could also take over the group.

In September, al-Adnani called for ISIS supporters to launch lone-wolf attacks.

Analysts say some of al-Baghdadi's top deputies were imprisoned with the spokesman at Camp Bucca, a U.S.-run detention center in Iraq where al-Baghdadi was also held for at least four years.

"He was able to trust these individuals as sharing his ideology, sharing his hatred for the West.," Squires said.

U.S. troops arrive in Anbar province

The effort to cut off funding to ISIS

The Shura Council's importance

If al-Baghdadi is still alive, there's one group of people who can take him out even without the use of airstrikes or violence.

The Shura Council is the religious monitor for ISIS. Not only does it make sure all the local councils and governors are sticking to ISIS' version of Islamic law, it has the ability to stand up to al-Baghdadi.

"The Shura Council has the right to tell Baghdadi to go if he's not adhering to ISIS' religious standards," said Jasmine Opperman of the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium. "It would most probably never happen, but the fact that it's possible indicates the council's prominence."

She said the recent beheadings of Western hostages James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and David Haines would have fallen under the Shura council's purview.

On top of that, Opperman said, the Shura Council also has the power to censure the leadership for running afoul of its interpretation of Sharia law.

But what happens if al-Baghdadi dies night just be hypothetical for now. While some Iraqi officials say the ISIS leader was wounded in an airstrike, U.S. officials say they can't confirm whether al-Baghdadi was hit at all.

Court jails captain of capsized South Korean ferry to 36 years

Lee Joon-Seok, the captain widely derided by families for leaping to safety while the hundreds of people remained inside the sinking South Korean ferry, was sentenced Tuesday to 36 years in jail.

Although he was acquitted of murder, Lee was found guilty of violating "seamen's law" and abandonment causing death and injury.

The sentence was the culmination of a five-month trial. A panel of three judges delivered the verdict and the sentence for Lee, who was accused of multiple charges including negligence, abandonment, and murder, for his conduct on the Sewol ferry that sunk on April 16.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Lee, alleging that he did not use the available equipment such as life rafts, life vests and announcements to evacuate the passengers.

In South Korea, death doesn't mean death

Sewol ferry disaster: 6 months of pain

Angry families speak out at ferry trial

Park Gi-ho, the ferry's chief engineer was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 30 years. The remaining 13 crew members were sentenced five to 20 years.

The verdict was met with outrage by families of the victim, who gathered outside court asking for an appeal and calling for the death penalty for the crew members.

More than 300 people died after the ferry capsized on the southwestern coast of South Korea in April. Almost 250 of them were suburban high school students on their way to a field trip.

Nine people remain missing. The government ended the underwater search on Tuesday after searching for about seven months.

"Conditions of the search has reached dangerous situation, for instance like the collapse of compartments within the ferry," said Lee Ju-young, the South Korean Minister of Oceans and Fisheries. "As the winter season approaches, conditions in the sea are deteriorating.

He said the chances of the finding the last victims were waning and that the sea conditions could cause casualties.

The ferry will be sealed, but the decision on a salvage operation will be made after considering various conditions and consulting with the families and experts.

Crew scorned and blamed

The image of Sewol ferry captain Lee Joon-seok being rescued in his shorts enraged South Korea.

Damning photos of Lee, dressed in a shirt and underwear, jumping into the arms of rescuers triggered widespread revulsion. While, there's no international maritime law that says a captain has to go down with his or her ship, his actions drew widespread criticism and it cemented in many people's mind that the captain had prioritized his safety over that of his passengers.

Even South Korean President Park Geun-hye chimed in, calling the actions of Lee and his crew as "akin to murder."

Lee has apologized numerous times, saying his actions were not intentional.

"I was stunned by the accident and I lost my ability to make decisions. I swear I never thought passengers should be left dying in order for me to make it to safety first."

Lee and three other crew members were charged with murder in an emotional trial that began in June.

Several of the survivors testified that when the ship's troubles began, they were instructed over the announcement system to stay put rather than to evacuate. The ship eventually capsized, trapping hundreds of passengers inside.

Lee's defense has maintained that the captain had only been at the helm of the ship for six days and that he was not willfully negligent.

"The defendant comes to understand the responsibility and is relying on psychological medication and also sleeping pills," his lawyer, Lee Gwang-jae told the court earlier this month. "He has an apologetic mindset and is living everyday as if walking on a thorny field, fearing that what he has done may sbe passed onto his family."

Lee had not been steering at the time when the ship listed that April morning. Lee told the court he was in his room, smoking and changing his clothes when trouble began on the ship. He acknowledged that he knew that the person who was steering did not have the proper skills.

"I failed to take the necessary measures for passengers to leave the ship," Lee said in court.

Ferry CEO charged with negligence

Ferry victim's haunting cry for mom

S. Korean President apologizes

"I reflect and apologize to the victim's families -- to those who lost their beloved sons and daughters. To the fathers, I'd say: 'I've committed a sin, worthy of death.'"

A fair trial?

Body identified as suspect ferry owner

There have been some concern that the Sewol crew members were being publicly demonized, affecting their chances for fair trial. Their trial was so highly charged that some lawyers refused to represent Lee.

Investigators have said that a vast amount of cargo, more than double the ferry's limit, and the failure to tie it down properly were partly responsible for the capsizing of the Sewol.

"I am concerned that those who are more responsible are shifting blame to the defendant," said Lee's defense attorney, when the trial began.

The operators of the Cheonghaejin Marine Co, which ran the ill-fated ferry are also facing trial.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison term for Kim Han-sik, chief executive officer of the company, who is facing a manslaughter charge.

The Sewol disaster caused widespread outrage in South Korea over lax safety standards and the failure to rescue more people as the ship foundered.

Source: CNN

Heartbreak as 47 Students are Killed in Savage Attack

 

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam

Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, has expressed heartbreak over Monday’s bomb attack at a secondary school in Potiskum, even as he condemned the emergency rule in the state, saying it has increased terrorist attacks rather than reducing them.
Barely one week after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb during a Shiite procession in Potiskum, the commercial nerve centre of Yobe was again thrown into mourning following a suicide attack on Monday morning at Government Comprehensive School, which left 47 dead and 79 others injured.

Briefing the press on the attack, the Yobe Police Command said a suicide bomber who disguised as a student detonated the explosive at the school’s assembly ground at 7.45 am.

Police bomb experts were mobilised to the crime scene while the victims were taken to hospitals, police officials said.

Eyewitnesses said the students were converged for the morning assembly when the incident occurred in the school said to be one of the densely populated boarding schools for boys, located very close to the General Hospital, Potiskum, in the centre of town.
One of the victims of the attack, Mohammed Isa, a student of SS 2E, revealed that the suicide bomber disguised as one of the students after wearing a uniform and was on the queue with them before he detonated a bomb hidden in his bag.

Isa, who spoke to journalists at the General Hospital, Potiskum, where the corpses were deposited and the injured students taken for treatment, said: “We were at the assembly ground at about 7.30 am today (yesterday) waiting for the principal to conduct the service when a loud bang was heard and all I could see was that I had fallen in pain and many around me were covered in blood and groaning.”

He said he was assisted to the hospital by good Samaritans who came to the rescue of the injured students and also loaded the corpses into vehicles.

Isa explained that it is the tradition of his school for students to gather at the assembly ground for devotion before dispersing for lessons, “but the suicide bomber who must have disguised as a student was with us during the assembly and must have detonated the bomb which led to the carnage”.

It was further discovered that the school was not well fenced, making it easy for intruders to access its premises.

Following the attack, scores of parents besieged the school to know the fate of their wards, while others scrambled to withdraw their children from other schools.

Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, it is believed to have been the handiwork of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

A resident of the town, Ibrahim Ahmed, who spoke to THISDAY, said: “There has been pandemonium since 7.45 am in Potiskum when a bomb was detonated at Government Comprehensive School.

“We heard a big bang and since then the area was cordoned off but ambulances have been going into the school to pick up corpses and taking the injured to the hospital.”

He added: “I can tell you all schools in the town have been closed now as parents have gone to pick their children. There is wailing everywhere especially around the school where the incident happened.”

Reacting to the suicide bombing, Gaidam called on President Goodluck Jonathan to explain to the people of the North-east and the entire country the modalities for the continued imposition of emergency rule and why it has failed.

The governor, in a press statement by his spokesman, Mallam Abdullahi Bego, said: “This morning, our state woke up to a very sad and heartbreaking news of a bomb attack on our young students at Government Comprehensive School, Potiskum, in which no fewer than 35 students were killed and many more injured.”

According to Bego, the governor’s thoughts and prayers were with the parents, teachers and families of the innocent victims of the callous and reprehensible attack, adding that he was heartbroken and words could not adequately convey the extent of his remorse and sadness.
He said: “The governor has noted that this is the fifth time in a little over one year when our schools in Yobe State were brutally attacked and students killed. There was Government Secondary School, Damaturu; Government Secondary School, Mamudo; College of Agriculture, Gujba; Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi; and now Government Comprehensive School, Potiskum.

“Governor Gaidam deeply regrets that all of these dastardly attacks took place under a climate of emergency rule declared in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States by President Goodluck Jonathan.

“In theory, the emergency rule declaration was a signal that more vigorous steps would be taken to protect the lives and property of people in the affected states and deploy the full might of the federal government to restore peace and security.

“Unfortunately, this has not been fully the case. Instead of forcing insurgents and criminals to flee; the insurgents are forcing innocent people to flee and making life miserable for everyone.
“Governor Gaidam believes that President Goodluck Jonathan has a very urgent responsibility to explain to the people of Yobe State and people all across the affected states why murderous and callous insurgency and criminal attacks are still on the rise despite the state of emergency."

The governor insisted that it was not just enough for the federal government to condemn the almost daily rounds of violence, stressing that urgent action needed to be taken immediately to restore the fast-waning public confidence by doing whatever it takes to stop the escalating violence.

He ordered the immediate closure of all public schools around the Potiskum area until a full review of the situation is undertaken.

He also called on all people of Yobe State to exercise restraint and continue to pray for the intervention of the almighty Allah.

He assured members of the public that despite the emergency rule in place, he would continue to do everything within his powers to get the federal government to do more and also continue to offer his administration’s support to all the people affected.

The governor directed hospital authorities in Potiskum to provide immediate medical support to the victims of the school attack free of charge, adding that some of the victims were referred to the Federal Medical Centres in Nguru and Azare, and the state government would foot their medical expenses.

The governor has also directed the Commissioner for Health to monitor victims and suggest additional measures that might be needed to help them recover.

Also speaking on the measures taken by the state government to safeguard students and schools in the area, the Yobe State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Mohammed Lamin, said the state had closed down all schools in Potiskum, pending an improvement on the security situation.

He said 33 students were killed in the blast and 67 others sustained injuries.
In his reaction to the suicide bombing in the secondary school, the president yesterday extended his heartfelt condolences to the government and people of the state on the death of the students.

In a statement by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan also conveyed his “deepest sympathies to all parents who lost their beloved children in the heinous attack on the school which appears to have been carried out by a suicide bomber”.

The president condemned the dastardly murder of the students on their school assembly ground, and promised the grieving parents and people of Yobe State that the federal government would ensure that all those responsible for the senseless murder of so many promising youngsters and the continuing acts of terrorism across the country are brought to justice and made to pay for their atrocious crimes.

The president similarly assured all Nigerians that in spite of seeming setbacks, his administration remained fully committed to winning the war against insurgency and terrorism.
Also, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday condemned the suicide attack in a boy's school in Nigeria in which dozens were killed.

In a tweet, the prime minister said: "The attack in Nigeria is cowardly and utterly condemnable. Condolences to the kin of the deceased. My prayers with the injured."

Source: ThisDay Live