Suspected Islamic gunmen have killed at least 29 students and a teacher at a Nigerian boarding school, setting buildings on fire and then shooting pupils as they tried to escape.
Survivors said some of the students were burned alive Saturday in the pre-dawn attack in Mamudo village in restive northeast Nigeria. One student said he was awakened at gunpoint, and suffered a gunshot wound that blew off four fingers of his right hand, his writing hand. Dozens more students fled into the bush, their fate unknown.
The school is in a region where Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency and sent in troops to try to thwart militants fighting to create a breakaway Islamic state.
But one father who lost two sons in the attack said the region is not safe. He said gunmen are attacking schools and "there is no protection for students despite all the soldiers."
Authorities believe the attack was carried out by Boko Haram, an Islamist insurgent group whose name translates to "Western education is sacrilege."
Survivors said some of the students were burned alive Saturday in the pre-dawn attack in Mamudo village in restive northeast Nigeria. One student said he was awakened at gunpoint, and suffered a gunshot wound that blew off four fingers of his right hand, his writing hand. Dozens more students fled into the bush, their fate unknown.
The school is in a region where Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency and sent in troops to try to thwart militants fighting to create a breakaway Islamic state.
But one father who lost two sons in the attack said the region is not safe. He said gunmen are attacking schools and "there is no protection for students despite all the soldiers."
Authorities believe the attack was carried out by Boko Haram, an Islamist insurgent group whose name translates to "Western education is sacrilege."
