Medical workers in the northeastern city of Maiduguri have said that nine students have been shot dead by Boko Haram militants on Tuesday in a local school.

The attack happened in the conservative Islamic School of Ansarudeen where the gunmen were believed to have opened fire indiscriminately on the students.

This is the second in such attack in 3 days, as 11 people were left dead in an attack on a local Secondary school by Boko Haram militants in the northeastern town of Damaturu on Sunday.

Seven students, two teachers and two insurgents were killed in the Damaturu attack on Sunday, according to official figure given by the military.

A student who witnessed the attack told Reuters Africa that he was taking exams in a classroom at the Ansarudeen School when gunmen stormed the building, opening fire at random.

“I saw five students sitting the exams killed on the spot, four others were killed as they were entering the school premises,” student confirmed to Reuters.

Local reporters say students are afraid to go to school as they do not know when and how the militants might strike again.

President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the deployment of Some 2,000 soldiers to 3 northern states in May this year, amid declaring state of emergency in those states, when intense attacks by Boko Haram were killing civilians on regular basis.

The military said it has arrested more than 150 Boko Haram militants and have destroyed many of their camps in remote areas of the city.

Dozen others of the group are also believed to have also fled into hiding or across borders to Niger, Chad and Cameroon due to the offensive of the military.

But many still believe they are regrouping to counter attack the military offensive on guerrilla tactics.

These two attacks in 3 days have also raised fears that a month-long offensive by the military has merely pushed militants into hiding, from where they can still launch dangerous attacks on civilians.

But the Nigerian military has maintained that their offensive has enabled them to wrest back control of the remote northeast cities from Boko Haram but these latest attacks put them in grave doubt.

The UN refugee agency said last week that the offensive by the military has forced more than 6,000 refugees – mostly women, children and the elderly to flee to neighboring Niger in recent months.

President Goodluck Jonathan had wanted to grant an amnesty to Boko Haram by setting up a committee to look into the affairs on how a peaceful dialogue can be achieved, but the group refused to lay down their arms compelling the President to resort to military action against them.

Boko Haram is believed to have carried out a wave of bombings and assassinations since 2009, saying it wants to establish an Islamic state across Nigeria.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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