Residents of Kano were thrown into shock yesterday after a bomb went
off at the state School of Hygiene killing at least 8 people (five of the dead were students of the school) and
injuring 12 others.
However, according to emerging details, the attacker aimed for a much higher death toll than was recorded.
Police arrested the suspected bomber and eyewitnesses say that he had pretended to be a new student making enquiries.
The suspect however aroused suspicion when he resisted attempts to
give him a suitable parking space due to the congestion in the school. According to a guard at the school who witnessed the incident,
the school had a busy week because of the newly admitted students that
were registering for their first session in the school. The blast
occurred as the students were struggling to meet a deadline to register
for the new academic session.
“The bomber came in blue traditional attire; he drove in and
asked about a department, so we all assumed he is a fresh student. He
was even holding some school registration papers with him.“We allowed him in and I told him where to park because we were
having parking space problem because of the fresh students around.
“So it was strange when he went the other way, so I followed him
and instructed he park at the appropriate place, we argued for a while
before he agreed to park where he was instructed to.
“A few minutes after he parked the car, the bomb went off, by
that time we had seen his face and could identify him. So when he
hurried to the gate, we ran after him and pinned him down, he was also
carrying some devices on him but we were brave enough to take him down,”
the guard who craved anonymity said.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the bomber was nearly lynched by some
irate students, but some teachers and school officials rescued him and
took him away and locked him up before police operatives came and
whisked him away.
An eyewitness, who is also a student, told Leadership that
there was a white vehicle parked in the midst of the school for hours
and it was the same vehicle that exploded and killed students.