{{short description|Massacre in Yobe State, Nigeria}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = Federal Government College Buni Yadi attack | partof = the Boko Haram insurgency | image = | alt = | caption = | type = School bombing | map = File:Nigeria Yobe State map.png | map_alt = | map_caption = Location of Yobe State in Nigeria | location = Yobe State, Nigeria | target = Federal Government College | coordinates = | date = {{start date|2014|02|25|df=y}} | time = | timezone = | fatalities = 59<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|title=Boko Haram kills 59 boys at Nigerian boarding school |date=25 February 2014 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/boko-haram-kills-children-boarding-school|access-date=6 March 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226141016/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/boko-haram-kills-children-boarding-school |archive-date=26 February 2014 |agency=Reuters}}</ref> | injuries = | victims = | perpetrators = Boko Haram | weapons = Explosives, firearms }} {{Campaignbox Nigerian Sharia conflict}} On 25 February 2014, fifty-nine boys were killed at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi in Yobe State, Nigeria. The twenty-four buildings of the school were also burned down as a result of the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but according to media and local officials the Islamist militants Boko Haram are believed to be behind the attack.{{r|guardian|nyt}}
==Background== {{see also|Islamist insurgency in Nigeria}} The Federal Government College is a boarding school located in Buni Yadi, a town in Yobe State, Nigeria.<ref name=sleeping /> The co-educational secondary school had twenty-four buildings at the time of the attack.<ref name=kill />
Islamic militants have been in conflict with the government in Northern Nigeria since 2009. Militant groups have increasingly focused on targeting civilians since May 2013 when President Goodluck Jonathan authorized the military to eliminate the resistance. The violence has brought increased instability to Nigeria, the top petroleum producer in Africa. In February 2014, militants were responsible for 300 deaths, mostly of civilians. In late February, the government shut the Nigeria–Cameroon border in an attempt to keep militants from launching attacks in Nigeria and then fleeing into Cameroon.<ref name=kill />
The militant group Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful", has targeted schools with violent attacks on a number of occasions.<ref name=kill /> The group has been officially labelled a terrorist organization in Nigeria and the United States, and large rewards have been offered for information leading to the capture of the group's leadership. More than 1,000 deaths were attributed to Boko Haram between May 2013 and February 2014.<ref name=sleeping /> The group has burnt more than 200 schools, according to official figures.<ref name=empty /> Abubakar Shekau, suspected leader of Boko Haram, issued a video statement in mid-February 2014 promising to continue the group's campaign against western values and threatening to broaden the scope of attacks.<ref name=sleeping />
A week before the Buni Yadi attack, Boko Haram members killed 60 people in the town of Bama in neighbouring Borno State; four days before that attack, the militants killed 106 in Izghe, a mostly Christian village; and three weeks before that the Islamists killed 78 in two attacks in the region.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|title=Islamist Militants Blamed for Deadly College Attack in Nigeria|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/africa/dozens-killed-in-nigeria-school-assault-attributed-to-islamist-militant-group.html?_r=0|access-date=6 March 2014|newspaper=New York Times|date=25 February 2014}}</ref>
==Attack== On 25 February 2014, militants barged into the Federal Government College while the students were sleeping. They threw explosives into dorm rooms as they sprayed the rooms with gunfire. According to an eye-witness "students were trying to climb out of the windows and they were slaughtered like sheep by the terrorists who slit their throats. Others who ran were gunned down."<ref name=sleeping /> All twenty-four buildings were burnt to the ground during the attack.<ref name=kill>{{cite news|last=Hemba|first=Joe|title=Nigerian Islamists kill 59 pupils in boarding school attack|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nigeria-violence-idUKBREA1O1IO20140225|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031232910/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nigeria-violence-idUKBREA1O1IO20140225|url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2016|agency=Reuters |work=Reuters World News|access-date=26 February 2014|date=25 February 2014}}</ref>
Fifty-nine boys were killed in the attack. Some died from gunshots or knife wounds, while others were burned to death.<ref name=kill /> Survivors and victims' bodies were taken to Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in the state capital, Damaturu. A hospital spokesperson said it appeared that the militants had intentionally "spared" female students.<ref name=sleeping>{{cite news|title=Sleeping Students 'Killed By Boko Haram'|url=http://news.sky.com/story/1217121/sleeping-students-killed-by-boko-haram|work=Sky News|access-date=26 February 2014|date=25 February 2014|archive-date=25 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225210055/http://news.sky.com/story/1217121/sleeping-students-killed-by-boko-haram|url-status=dead}}</ref>
According to media reports, the attack "bore the hallmarks" of Boko Haram.<ref name=sleeping /> Local officials also attributed the attack to the group, but no claim of responsibility was made.<ref name=phones />
==Aftermath== President Goodluck Jonathan called the Federal Government College attack "callous and senseless murder ... by deranged terrorists and fanatics who have clearly lost all human morality and descended to bestiality".<ref name=kill /> He vowed to "permanently eradicate the scourge of terrorism".<ref name=phones /> UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack saying "no objective can justify such violence" and said he was "deeply concerned about the increasing frequency and brutality of attacks".<ref name=empty />
Relatives of the attack victims surrounded the morgue angrily demanding answers. The military had to take control of the building to restore order.<ref name=sleeping /> The government's failure to prevent the Federal Government College attack and similar incidents has led to public anger in northeast Nigeria.<ref name=kill /> Students across the region refused to sleep in their boarding schools after the attack and returned to their family homes.<ref name=empty>{{cite news|title=Schools, university empty after deadly Nigeria attack|agency=AFP|date=28 February 2014|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/28-Feb-2014/schools-university-empty-after-deadly-nigeria-attack|access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140304185341/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/28-Feb-2014/schools-university-empty-after-deadly-nigeria-attack |archive-date=4 March 2014 |url-status=dead |work=Daily Times|location=Pakistan}}</ref>
==Investigation== According to the Yobe State Government, soldiers guarding a checkpoint near the attack site had withdrawn from their post hours before the attack.<ref name=sleeping /> State governor Ibrahim Gaidam blamed the withdrawal for the attack and said the national military had failed to protect the students. A national military spokesperson, however, said the checkpoint had been dismantled earlier as part of a Joint Task Force operation. He said bad phone lines, possibly cut by the attackers, had prevented the military from hearing about the attack in time to respond.<ref name=phones>{{cite news|title=Nigerian Military: Phones Not Working At Time of School Attack|date=26 February 2014|work=Voice of America|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/nigerian-military-phones-not-working-at-time-of-school-attack/1860191.html|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> Boko Haram is suspected to have started the attack as part of its fight "to create an Islamic state" in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.<ref>{{cite news|last=Abubakar|first=Aminu|title=43 killed in Nigeria in suspected Boko Haram school attack|url=https://news.yahoo.com/suspected-boko-haram-gunmen-attack-nigeria-school-military-115523625.html|access-date=6 March 2014|newspaper=Yahoo News|date=25 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Nigeria children killed and school razed|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/02/nigeria-children-killed-attack-school-2014225144133150291.html|access-date=6 March 2014|newspaper=Al Jazeera|date=25 Feb 2014}}</ref>
==See also== {{portal|Nigeria}} * Yobe State school shooting * Timeline of Boko Haram insurgency
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{coord|11.2689|N|11.9969|E|source:wikidata|display=title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Use Nigerian English|date=June 2025}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buni Yadi massacre}} Category:2014 murders in Nigeria Category:Massacres committed by Boko Haram Category:Terrorist incidents in Nigeria in 2014 Category:2010s in Yobe State Category:Massacres in 2014 Category:University and college shootings in Africa Category:School bombings in Africa Category:School massacres in Nigeria Category:Arson in 2014 Category:Mass shootings in Nigeria Category:Mass stabbings in Nigeria Category:February 2014 in Nigeria Category:Violence against men in Nigeria Category:February 2014 crimes in Africa Category:2014 mass shootings in Africa Category:2010s massacres in Nigeria Category:Building bombings in Nigeria Category:2014 building bombings Category:Mass murders in Yobe State Category:Terrorist incidents in Yobe State Category:Attacks on universities and colleges in Nigeria Category:Stabbing attacks in 2014 Category:Building and structure arson attacks in Nigeria Category:School arson fires in Africa Category:2010s fires in Africa Category:University and college massacres in Africa Category:Attacks on schools in 2014