‘Boko Haram may attack political rallies’

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On Monday, a simple looking secondary school student of Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary, Potiskum, Yobe State, around 7:30am, joined his ‘mates’ on the assembly ground. Nobody knew that his young body was ladden with bomb, concealed in his uniform.

Within minutes, there was a big bang, leading to his death and those of several others boys. Screams of pain and panic rented the air. It is strongly believed that the suicide bomber was not a student of the school. 47 students died and 79 others were injured.
Body parts, abandoned student foot wears, charred school books and bags were remains of the dead and wounded at the scene of the explosion. USA government and the United Nations condemned the attack, describing it as one of the worst on innocent kids. President Goodluck Jonathan also described it as a “dastardly attack.”
The attack came just a day after the release of a new Boko Haram video in which the Islamist group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, again rejected Nigerian government’s claims of a ceasefire and peace talks. UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon called on Nigerian authorities to bring the perpetrators of the school attack to justice. Ki-moon was outraged by the frequency and brutality of attacks against educational institutions in the northern parts of Nigeria.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, echoed the call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and also condemned the attack. President of Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu, saddened by the gruesome murder of the students, said mere talks were not enough at this point, adding that action was desperately needed now.
He advised the Federal government to halt all political campaigns in the North East of the country and declare war on the Boko Haram terrorists, with emphasis on intensifying military campaign in the areas under emergency rule.
The security expert said: “The carnival atmosphere that accompanied political campaign rallies made mockery of the memory of innocent school students slaughtered by Boko Haram in the Potiskum attack and several other recent school attacks, including the abduction of the over 200 school girls from Chibok, Borno State.”
Ekhomu said that politicking in states under emergency rule was insensitive and detracted from the military effort. He said that since Boko Haram has a penchant for attacking large crowds, political rallies could come under person borne IED (PB IED) or Vehicle Borne IED (VBIED) attacks. Ekhomu deplored the lack of security awareness in schools.
He cited the September 2014 suicide bombing attack at the Federal College of Education, Kano which claimed 17 lives and the bombing of the School of Hygiene in Kano in June which killed eight people. He added: “In February 2014, Boko Haram terrorists attacked Government Secondary School, Buni Yadi, Yobe State with IEDS and Molotov cocktails, killing 49 students in that horrific attack. Also in February 2014, 25 students were killed in an attack against a christian school in Shuwa, Adamawa State.
“The Gujba, Yobe School massacre took place in September 2013 while the Government Secondary School Mamudo (Yobe State) massacre occurred in July 2013. Based upon the observed pattern of attacks, it is clear that Boko Haram is systematically exterminating students and attempting to ensure the total shut down of the educational infrastructure in Nigeria’s North East States.”
Ekhomu called for the implementation of tough security measures when students are in school, including good identification procedures, training of students in observation skills, security awareness training for students, IED recognition and response training, crisis management protocols including notification of suspicious packages or persons, evacuation of an area with suspicious packages, reporting of suspicious objects to the school authorities and to security officials, and provision of armed security personnel to guard school buildings.