Potiskum school blast: Suicide bomber believed to be student on school assembly ground *Death toll rises to 47, 79 injured

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At least 47 students have been killed by a suicide bomber at a school assembly at the Government Science Secondary School in Potiskum, police have said.
Militant group Boko Haram is believed to have caused the blast, police said.

It has often targeted schools during its five-year campaign to establish an Islamic state, which has left thousands dead.
A suicide bomber disguised in a school uniform caused the explosion, survivors are quoted by Associated Press news agency as saying.
Police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu told the BBC Hausa service the bombing had left 47 people dead and another 79 wounded.
The school was a mass of abandoned footwear and blood, resident Adamu Alkassim told AFP news agency.
“The students had gathered for the morning assembly when something exploded in their midst with a thunderous sound at exactly 7:50 am [06:50 GMT],” a sobbing teacher is quoted by AFP as saying.
Victims were being rushed to a nearby hospital, said the teacher, who asked not to be identified.
One student told the BBC he saw mutilated bodies of fellow students at the scene. A resident reported seeing parents wailing at the sight of their children’s bodies at the hospital.
Emergency operations are still ongoing at the school.
The blast underlines the lack of security in north-eastern Nigeria, says BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross.
Boko Haram, whose names means Western education is forbidden, is waging a sustained campaign to prevent children from going to school.
It believes girls should not attend school and boys should only receive an Islamic education.
In April, the group sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok town in Borno state.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has dismissed government claims to have agreed a ceasefire, under which the girls would be released.
He says the children have converted to Islam, are learning to memorise the Koran and have been married off.
Schools in Yobe State have been frequently attacked by Boko Haram militants.
The state is one of three in Nigeria that have been placed under a state of emergency as a result of the group’s activities.
The town of Potiskum has also been targeted before by Boko Haram.
Last week, a suicide bombing killed 15 people in the town.
The bomber joined a religious procession of the rival Shia Muslim sect, before blowing himself up.
 http://newtelegraphonline.com/potiskum-school-blast-death-toll-rises-to-47-79-injured/