Boko Haram: Military recapture Buni Yadi, Yobe

Abuja – Troops of the Nigerian Army on Saturday captured Buni Yadi town, the headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area and Buni Gari town both in Yobe State.

This information is comtained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations Col Sani Usman

The statement said during the operations, the troops encountered little resistance as the insurgents were on the run.

“Cordon and search and mopping up operations are ongoing in these areas. Operations by troops are also continuing to recover the few areas remaining in the hands of terrorists,” the statement said.

On February 25, 2014, Boko Haram militants barged into the Federal Government College Buni Yadi while the students were sleeping. They threw explosives into dorm rooms as they sprayed the rooms with gunfire. According to an eye-witness "students were trying to climb out of the windows and they were slaughtered like sheep by the terrorists who slit their throats. Others who ran were gunned down All twenty-four buildings were burnt to the ground during the attack.

Fifty-nine boys were killed in the attack. Some died from gunshots or knife wounds, while others were burned to deaty. Survivors and victims' bodies were taken to Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in the state capital of Damaturu. A hospital spokesperson said it appeared that the militants had intentionally "spared" female students.

FGC Buni Yadi after the february 2014 attack

President Goodluck Jonathan called the Federal Government College attack "callous and senseless murder ... by deranged terrorists and fanatics who have clearly lost all human morality and descended to bestiality. He vowed to "permanently eradicate the scourge of terrorism”  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack saying "no objective can justify such violence" and said he was "deeply concerned about the increasing frequency and brutality of attacks".

Relatives of the attack victims surrounded the morgue angrily demanding answers. The military had to take control of the building to restore order.[3] The government's failure to prevent the Federal Government College attack and similar incidents has led to public anger in northeast Nigeria. Students across the region refused to sleep in their boarding schools after the attack and returned to their family homes.

How did this happen?
According to the Yobe State Government, soldiers guarding a checkpoint near the attack site had withdrawn from their post hours before the attack. State governor Ibrahim Gaidam blamed the withdrawal for the attack and said the national military had failed to protect the students. A national military spokesperson, however, said the checkpoint had been dismantled earlier as part of a Joint Task Force operation. He said bad phone lines, possibly cut by the attackers, had prevented the military from hearing about the attack in time to respond.

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