The Slatest

Gunmen Kill Up To 50 Students as They Sleep in Nigeria College

Suspected Islamists attacked a college in north-eastern Nigerian, killing as many as 50 students as they slept at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state, the BBC reports. The gunmen are widely believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect that is trying to overthrow Nigeria’s government to install an Islamic state.

“They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved onto the next group and killed them. It was so terrible,” a surviving student tells Reuters.

An exact death toll is still not known because security officials are still recovering bodies of students, most of whom are aged between 18 and 22, reports the Associated Press. Boko Haram has intensified attacks recently in retaliation for military attacks on the group. Several schools have been targeted.