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Gunmen open fire on students in Nigeria Gunmen open fire on students at Nigerian university
(about 3 hours later)
Gunmen have opened fire on students in a college in the north-east Nigerian city of Mubi, killing and wounding an unknown number, emergency services have said.
The attack took place on Tuesday at Federal Polytechnic Mubi in Adamawa state which, like much of the north, been targeted by Islamist insurgents. Scores of students were killed after gunmen burst into a university residence in north-eastern Nigeria hours after a disputed student union election led to rival gangs rampaging through the town.
"Definitely there are casualties but we don't yet know how many dead or injured," said the spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency, Yushua Shuaib. At least 32 students were shot or stabbed at Federal Polytechnic Mubi as armed union members attacked the residence during the night, a university official said. Residents said rival students killed the winner of the elections late on Sunday, then spread out in gangs across the town.
The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which usually targets politicians or security forces, has also attacked students in the past and has cells in Adamawa. "They were going door to door to find their victims, but anybody in the wrong place at the wrong time could have been killed," said one student.
Shuaib said it was not clear if the attack was carried out by Boko Haram or if it was related to a dispute between rival political groups at the college. Mubi in the north-east of Nigeria has become awash with weapons and violence since the radical Islamist group Boko Haram began launching attacks there. Security officials say top-ranking members have migrated to the town after sustained military crackdowns on the group's spiritual home in neighbouring Borno state. Last month, officials arrested 154 members while at least 30 people have died in attacks and shootouts there.
"Because of the situation with Boko Haram we didn't take risks and the army was deployed. There was an hour of gun battles during the night before the [union members] were driven back," a state security official told the Guardian.
Security officials said a stash of explosives and other weapons, including brand dozens of AK47s, submachine guns and poison-tip arrows, was discovered during a raid last month on a student residence used by Boko Haram. A dawn-to-dusk curfew had just been lifted as the latest violence erupted.
"It's getting scary," said a Mubi resident whose home overlooks a student union house. "These days the student unionists come with guns to protect themselves and they loan them to local thieves."
"People are fleeing to neighbouring villages. Some are going by foot; anything to escape," the resident added.
An official said 16 students who were arrested in September were later released after questioning. Across West Africa, student union leaders often wield enormous power in campuses amid strong links to local and national politicians. Campuses in neighbouring Ivory Coast shut down for months earlier this year in an attempt to wipe out heavily-armed union members whose feuds frequently led to deaths.