A Senior Secondary II student, identified as Chibuike is experiencing pains amidst tears following an Improvised Explosive Device that went off and chopped off his left arm at the Glory Land High School, Azugwu, in the Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on Thursday.
Southern City News gathered that the device, which exploded during the school’s break hour, also made other pupils to sustain varying degrees of injury.
The incident, which a source in the area told our correspondent happened around 11am, caused serious confusion and panic in the school and its environs.
It was gathered that no sooner had the device exploded than Chibuike, who was wailing uncontrollably in the pool of his own blood, was rushed to the emergency unit of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
Our correspondent learnt that the others injured pupils were currently receiving treatment in undisclosed hospitals and clinics in the state.
A visit to the school by Southern City News around 2.30pm revealed that the entrance gate had been put under lock and key.
One of the pupils, who was returning home in company with others, confirmed the incident and added that Chibuike was playing with the device when it exploded.
The pupil, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being singled out and punished later by the school authority, said, “I was in the school when the device exploded. I can’t tell what it was. But I saw Chibuike playing with the thing before it exploded.
“It’s like he came to school with it; nobody knew what it was. The thing chopped off his left hand. He has been taken to hospital.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident though she said she had yet to get an official report on the incident from the Divisional Police Officer of the Eke-Aba Police Station.
“Yes, I have heard about it; but I have not been officially briefed on the matter. The DPO has gone there, but he has not reported to us officially. So, we are still waiting for him to brief us officially,” Odah said.