Female suicide bomber kills at least one at Nigerian college

A female suicide bomber blew herself up at a teacher training college in Nigeria on Wednesday, killing at least one other person in the second such attack on an educational institution this week, police and a witness said.


The blast hit Kontagora in central Niger State two days after a suicide bomber dressed as a student killed at least 48 secondary school pupils in the northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum.

No one has claimed responsibility for either assault. But Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has used female suicide bombers before and attacked schools it says spread corrupting Western ideas.

The woman's device went off around midday as she tried to enter the library at Federal College of Education, Kontagora, student Samson Kazah told Reuters. He said he saw at least one other body and the explosion wounded one of his friends.

"The female suicide bomber blew herself up before reaching her target," said a police spokesman.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan promised on Tuesday to defeat Boko Haram as he announced he would stand for a second term in February elections.