The attacks are becoming more gruesome, and the attackers are daringly blowing hot. Apparently, Boko Haram, a militant group seeking to enshrine the Islamic sharia law into the Constitution in Nigeria, has recently taken its fight beyond Borno State, its known headquarters, to other parts of the West African country's northeast region.

On Tuesday, the killing of at least 50 students of a federal government college in Buni Yadi, a local community in the volatile northeastern state of Yobe, where an emergency rule subsists, reverberated the thought among Nigerian citizens that the Boko Haram, a ruthless sect which has proved to be a major security threat since 2009, has expanded its frontiers.

The innocent students were said to be deep asleep when the attackers struck, slaying and burning some of the sleeping teenagers to ashes. It was a gory sight which, perhaps, sent the wrong signal to the minds of the people that darker days may lie ahead.

Immediately the news of the college massacre hit the town on Tuesday, many worried netizens of Nigeria invaded the cyberspace to express their grief. Others explored other means of communication to mourn the dead.

Nigeria's former vice president Abubabkar Atiku was the first, among towering political figures in the country, to openly condemn the mindless killing of the teenagers, via the cyberspace and a statement released by his media office in the capital city Abuja.

Atiku, who hails from Adamawa, a neighboring state to Yobe, where the incident occurred, said it was unfortunate the innocent students were gruesomely killed by terrorists.

"This will not be the first time in recent times that school children are being attacked, and it is particularly disheartening that the federal government is yet to devise a strategy of keeping our schools safe from terror attacks.

"If our counter-insurgency strategies are not strong enough to keep our children safe inside their schools, then one must wonder if such a strategy is not merely chasing shadows," said the Nigerian statesman, who claimed to have wept profusely after getting information about the massacre.

"My heartfelt condolences go to families of the slain school pupils. It is unfortunate that innocent school children will become victims of armed attacks," added Atiku, who had been at the forefront in a campaign for a safer and better future of Nigerian youths before and after he left office as vice president of Africa's most populous country in 2007.

Lola Aigoro, a social media activist with large follower base on Facebook, expressed her grief in a poetic style as discussion about the killing incident went viral on the cyberspace.

"Forty-three students killed, 43 parents thrown into anguish. Forty-three families in pain, 43 hopes for tomorrow dashed. Forty- three burning lights extinguished, 43 leaders of tomorrow wasted today (on Tuesday). This is gruesome, absolutely heart-rending killing," she lamented.

The chief mourner, President Goodluck Jonathan, also condemned the attack in strong terms. He described the horrendous killing of innocent students of the Federal Government Girls College as callous, barbaric and senseless.

"I wholly condemn the brutal and mindless killing of the innocent students by deranged terrorists and fanatics who have clearly lost all human morality and descended to bestiality," said the Nigerian leader.

Promising that the armed forces of Nigeria and other security agencies would continue to tackle the war against terror with vigor, Jonathan assured of his administration's commitment to ending the scourge of terrorism in parts of the oil rich country, which has sadly claimed more innocent lives.

Earlier, the governor of Yobe State Ibrahim Geidam, had frowned at the poor security arrangement that allows such attacks to persist, asking the Nigerian president to send more troops to the northeast region, to forestall future attacks.

In a statement released by his office, Speaker of Nigeria's parliament Aminu Waziri Tambuwal also mourned the students and described their killing as ignoble, wicked and horrendous.

He tasked security agencies to redouble their efforts and change their tactics, "especially now that those engaged in the killings have increased their attacks on softer targets".

"We in the House of Representatives feel the grief and pain of the families of the victims. In this their hour of need, we will stand with them hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. We assure them that as brothers, we will continue to confront headlong, the threats of terror facing our nation, and we know we will come out stronger, and victorious," he added.

Since the wake of violent attacks in Nigeria's geopolitical northeastern zone, Borno State had witnessed more attacks than Adamawa and Yobe, its geographical neighbors.

In mid-2013, hundreds of club-carrying youths voluntarily formed a vigilance group which residents dubbed "civilian JTF" (a coinage made out of the military Joint Task Force). The local security group launched a crackdown on suspected members of Boko Haram in Maiduguri, capital of the northern state and birthplace of the sect.

The crackdown, according to the former spokesman of the military-led JTF, Lt.-Col Sagir Musa, facilitated the arrest of hundreds of the insurgents, thus prompting other members of the sect to flee the metropolis.

Within three months, Boko Haram found the hilly southern Gwoza area and greenish centrally located part of the state attractive to hide, build camps and plan more attacks on local communities.

Gwoza, Alau, Konduga, Kawuri, Pulka, Bama and Baga are among communities that have witnessed various deadly attacks, burning of houses and killing of innocent souls in the state. The insurgents usually criss-cross the central part of Borno State, moving in and out of the porous Nigeria-Cameroon border, to perpetrate various dastardly acts.

"In Gwoza local government area alone, Boko Haram has killed about 350 people in the last two months," said Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno State, at a recent meeting with a local traditional leader.

According to the governor, this month alone, the insurgents had attacked Konduga, Kawuri, Izge and lately Bama communities, killing and injuring a high number of residents.

Sali Umar, a resident of Bama Town, expressed worry over the manner the insurgents over-run communities and expand its frontiers in its violent campaigns. "They have completely finished (razed) Konduga, Kawuri and most communities under Gwoza local government. We had thought Bama Town was impenetrable until they launched an attack, razed the palace and sacked the emir (local traditional ruler)," said Umar.

"Boko Haram appears to be getting more daring each day," he added, insisting the insurgents had taken over the central zone of the state and a huge part of the southern part of Borno.

"They've attacked Askira, a community densely populated by Christians, and there is fear they could move into other areas in the southern part of the state," he said.

How the insurgents move freely in the scrubby vegetation of the southern and central areas, despite heavy presence of military troops, is still a mystery to the residents.

Hundreds of soldiers and other security personnel, stationed at strategic parts of the state, are seen with armored personnel carrier, yet the insurgents usually beat all security measures to enter the surrounding communities.



During a periodic presidential media chat aired on national television on Monday, Jonathan had reposed confidence in the Nigerian military which he commended for successfully pushing armed attacks to the fringes of the country.

"To show that they are on top of the situation, the Nigerian government still have to make sure they regain the trust of the citizens by reducing the Boko Haram's onslaught to its lowest ebb, " said Musiliu Akinsanya, a transporter in southwest Nigeria's Lagos State and the country's commercial hub.

To prove that the Nigerian government is truly all out to make the country a more secured place for foreign investors to do business and a better place for its citizens to sleep with their eyes closed, the state security service (SSS), the conventional police and army must up-their-game in a concerted effort to address security issues as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if nothing is done quickly, it may be true to say that there is no end in sight for the deadly attacks orchestrated by the dreaded Boko Haram sect in the country.