By Wisdom Patrick, Lagos

Amnesty International said Monday that it was alarmed by the increase in attacks by unknown gunmen on people in North-East Nigeria and called on the government to take effective measures to protect the people and prevent further human rights abuses.

“Since the beginning of this year the attacks have intensified. Over 600 people have been killed by gunmen, often suspected to be Boko Haram,” said Makmid Kamara, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International.

“The Nigerian government’s continued failure to protect ordinary people from attacks and unlawful killings is shocking. The authorities have an obligation to protect people’s lives and property under all circumstances. All armed groups operating in northern Nigeria must immediately stop these horrific attacks”

It added that on Monday at least 29 students and teachers at a college were murdered in Yobe State north-east Nigeria. Some injured students later died in hospital increasing the death toll to over 40.

Amnesty International said in a statement made available to Political Economist  that it has spoken to survivors of these attacks, stressing that some survivors and local residents told Amnesty International that the gunmen spent several hours in the school compound killing people and burning nearby houses and school buildings.

“They described how gunmen arrived around 9:00pm and started shooting indiscriminately, killing every male they found. Children who hid in a classroom were burnt alive.”

Survivors and some eye witnesses told Amnesty International it took several hours before the Army responded, in one case after the attackers had left.

Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to provide better protection for schools and ensure that all attacks are properly investigated and suspected perpetrators brought to justice in a fair trial without recourse to the death penalty.