Nigeria’s northeastern University of Maiduguri kill 5

Bomb blasts at Nigeria’s Maiduguri University kill 5
(Photo: Uwe Dedering at German Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC BY 3.0)

One student said the first blast ripped through the mosque where professors were saying dawn prayers and many are feared among the victims. A university worker said the second bomb went off at an entrance gate. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.

Police spokesman Victor Isuku confirmed Monday’s explosions but said rescuers are still ferrying the wounded to hospitals and evacuating bodies, making it difficult to give a toll.

Maiduguri has been attacked many times but this is the first attack on the university blamed on Boko Haram—the Islamic extremist group whose name means “Western education is sinful.”

The 7-year-old Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people.