An undercover suicide bomber snuck into a morning meeting at a Nigerian high school and blew himself up via explosives stuffed in his backpack, killing nearly 50 students and teachers, the NY Times reported on Monday.
An additional 79 people were wounded during the morning attack. It is believed that militants intended to kill as many people as possible by detonating the bombs during morning assemblies.
Boko Haram is being eyed as the possible party responsible for the attack. The terrorist group has engaged in similar activities in the same northern region of Nigeria. Roughly translated, Boko Haram means "Western education is sinful."
The attack was one of the deadliest in the past few months. Last week, 30 people were also killed when a bomb went off in the same region.
Angry residents protesting and throwing stones temporarily blocked government aid officials from reaching the school.
One student said he saw the bodies of his peers lying mauled on the ground while rescue teams were on the scene. Another resident said he saw parents break down into tears of despair after seeing their children's bodies in hospital beds, the BBC reported.
"My brother, a student in the school, died in the blast. He was about 16 years old ... We buried him at about 11 a.m.," one relative said. "The government needs to be more serious about the fight against Boko Haram because it is getting out of control."
Many Nigerians are infuriated over the power of Boko Haram and how the military is seemingly powerless to stop them. It's the same group that kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in Borno State.
Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, has denied that the group has agreed to a ceasefire with the government, which would have led to the girls' release.
He states the children are learning to memorize the Koran after becoming Muslin and have been paired off with men to be married.
