Efforts to cripple terrorists who made life in Nigeria’s North-East and North-West a nightmare have suffered a setback following a dastardly attack on a secondary school in restive Yobe State by gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram.

About 42 people, mostly students, were killed in the overnight attack, according to the international news agency, AFP.

“We received 42 dead bodies of students and other staff of Government Secondary School (in) Mamudo last night. Some of them had gunshot wounds while many of them had burns and ruptured tissues,” AFP quoted Haliru Aliyu of the Potiskum General Hospital as saying.

Mamudo is some five kilometres from Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe State which has been a flashpoint in the Boko Haram insurgency in recent months. Yobe is one of three states under emergency rule since mid-May, the other two being Borno and Adamawa.

“From accounts of teachers and other students who escaped the attack, the gunmen gathered their victims in a hostel and threw explosives and opened fire, leading to the death of 42,” Aliyu said.

He said security personnel were combing the bushes around the school in search of students who were believed to have escaped with gunshot wounds.

“So far six students have been found and are now in the hospital being treated for gunshot wounds,” he added.

A local resident who did not want to be named confirmed the attack.

“It was a gory sight. People who went to the hospital and saw the bodies shed tears. There were 42 bodies, most of them were students. Some of them had parts of their bodies blown off and badly burnt while others had gunshot wounds,” he said.

He said the attack was believed to be a reprisal by the Boko Haram Islamists for the killing of 22 sect members during a military raid in the town of Dogon Kuka on Thursday.

Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

•Photo: Boko Haram elements.