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!”
Adamawa State Commissioner for Information, Mr.
Ahmed Sajoh, also told journalists that seven
persons were killed by the explosion.

It was learnt from one of the camp’s residents,
Abubakar Sani, that two female suicide bombers
detonated the bomb that led to the killings.

Sajoh, however, said the state governor,
Muhammadu Bindow, had directed the state
emergency management agency to foot the medical
bills of the injured.

He said among those killed was a toddler, adding that
those on humanitarian service were not spared by
the suicide bombers.