16 killed, many injured as explosions rock Bayero University Kano

Gunmen attacked church services in the Bayero University Kano (BUK) on Sunday, using small explosives to draw out and gun down panicking worshippers in an assault that killed at least 16 people, officials said.
Eyewitnesses said that the explosion started at about 8.30am this morning, when about seven attackers hit theatres 2 and 3 where Christians normally conduct their services.

Sporadic gun shots were also heard at the Kabuga junction close to the entrance of the University’s old campus.

“The elements came, used explosives and guns to attack them. We have repelled them and cordoned off the area,” Ikedichi Iweha, an army spokesman, told Reuters.

Andronicus Adeyemo, an official with the Nigerian Red Cross, said a canvas of local hospitals and morgues showed the attack killed at least 16 people.

A number of people suffered injuries, though the aid agency did not immediately have an exact figure, Adeyemo said.

“For over 30 minutes a series of bomb explosions and gun shots took over the old campus, around the academic blocks,” said Mohammed Suleiman, a history lecturer at the Bayero University.

“It started at about 8.30am this morning … our school security men had to run for their dear lives. You can see smoke all over,” Mr Suleiman said.
 The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris in a telephone interview with Channels Television said although eight people have been confirmed dead, the death toll might increase in the course of the day.

After the attack, police and soldiers cordoned off the campus as gunfire echoed in the surrounding streets. Abubakar Jibril, a spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, said security forces refused to allow rescuers to enter the campus. Soldiers also turned away journalists from the university.