Nigeria's Yobe State Orders Closures of All Secondary Schools Following Massacre That Killed 42, Including 22 Students

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has ordered the closure of all secondary schools in the Nigerian north-eastern state of Yobe, following the senseless massacre on Saturday by suspected Islamist extremists in a boarding school that killed at least 42 people, including 22 students.

"All secondary schools in the state be closed down from Monday 8th July 2013 until a new academic session begins in September," a government statement said.

At the same time, he called on the federal government to reinstate the state's access to mobile phone signals.

"Lack of [Global System for Mobile Communications] service has prevented patriotic citizens who have hitherto been collaborating with security agents from reporting suspicious movements in their neighbourhoods," Mr Gaidam said in a statement.

In May, the military cut access to phone service as part of a sweeping offensive to end a four-year insurgency by Boko Haram. Satellite phones were likewise banned. The military claimed such devices were used by the insurgents in planning their attacks. Landline service, meanwhile, is extremely rare in Nigeria.

Mr Gaidam condemned the senseless rampage as "cold-blooded murder." Alleged Boko Haram Islamic extremists went into the Mamudo boarding school on Saturday at around 3am local time and rounded up the students and staff before throwing explosives inside the facility and opening fire.

The group Boko Haram, whose name translates "Western education is a sin," has repeatedly attacked schools in the largely Islamic states of northern Nigeria.

Some of the victims were burned alive in the attack, according to witnesses, while the others were shot as they tried to flee.

It is the third attack made towards a school in north eastern Nigeria in recent weeks. It is the second to occur in Yobe state.