Nigerian massacre 'not tied to tensions'

2012-10-04 11:43

(Picture: Shutterstock)

Lagos - A security official at a Nigeria college on Thursday dismissed reports that a massacre at a nearby student housing area that left at least 40 people dead was linked to tensions over a campus vote.

"I have no evidence to link it to the election," Shuaib Aroke, deputy registrar at Federal Polytechnic Mubi, where some of those killed in the Tuesday massacre were enrolled, told AFP.

"It is a fallacy," he said of the supposed link being suggested by some Nigerian authorities. "We are united here at polytechnic," added Aroke, who said he is currently in charge of security on campus.

He, however, said he had no information on who was behind the killings.

Suspicions have also fallen on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has carried out scores of attacks in Nigeria's northeast and was the target of a military raid last week in Mubi.

In the student vote, there were suggestions of ethnic tensions between the mainly Muslim Hausas and predominately Christian Igbos, and a spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency said some of the victims were candidates.

"There were three contestants for the polytechnic election. A Hausa man got the president with 1 500 votes. The second place was an Igbo with about 1 000 and another man from Edo [state, southwest] got 300," Aroke explained.

"The election was conducted in a very peaceful atmosphere... All the contestants signed the results sheet."

He noted that voting took place on Saturday, while the massacre - in which some of the victims were called out by name before being shot or having their throats slit - happened early on Tuesday.

Police in northeastern Adamawa state, where Mubi is located, said they have arrested "many suspects" in connection with the slaughter, but have declined to provide further details.

Another school official, who requested anonymity, said most of those being held were students.

- AFP