The National Emergency Management Agency
on Friday confirmed a bomb explosion at a school at the Malkohi Camp of
the internally displaced persons in Yola, Adamawa State.
The agency said seven persons were killed while 20 were injured as a result of the explosion that occurred around 10.50am.
It added that seven of the injured had
been treated and discharged at the Federal Medical Centre in Yola while
the remaining 13 persons, including four NEMA officials, were still on
admission at the hospital.
The explosion would be the first of such attack on an IDP camp in the North-East.
Though no information had been made
available about the perpetrators of the act, there are indications it
might have been carried out by the Boko Haram insurgent group.
Boko
Haram has in a six-year period displaced thousands of people in the
North-East, while killing other thousands as a result of its activities.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said on Twitter that he was saddened by the incident and condemned those behind the attack.
He said, “I’m deeply saddened by the
bombing incident at the Yola IDP camp today. Only persons with hearts of
evil could do this. The Yola IDP camp is the largest in Nigeria, and is
a refuge to the thousands of people who fled the insurgency from mostly
Borno and Yobe.
“Many people I know were working as
volunteers in the camp, including staff and students of American
University of Nigeria, who sustained minor injuries from the blast.
“Today’s attack is an attempt to break
the spirits of the people who came to seek refuge. The perpetrators will
know no peace. We refuse to be broken. We will win the war against
terrorism. We shall overcome!”
