In outright defiance to the state of emergency imposed on the state, gunmen believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect have killed 29 students and an English teacher in an early morning attack on a boarding school in Yobe State.

The English teacher has been identified as Mohammed Musa and he died after he was shot in the chest.

It was gathered that the attackers stormed the premises of the Government Secondary School, Mamudo, in Yobe State at around 3am, setting fire to parts of the complex.

 Some survivors receiving treatment at the Potsikum General Hospital,, say some students were burned alive in the attack, while others ran into the bush to escape the terror.

 Parents rushed to the school and screamed in anguish as they tried to identify the charred and dead bodies of the victims.

 One 15-year-old who survived the attack told of how he awoke to find one of the attackers pointing a gun at him.

"We were sleeping when we heard gunshots. When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me," he said, adding that as he put up his hands in surrender, he was shot in his right hand and has now lost four fingers.

 A farmer, Malam Abdullahi, told newsmen that he found the bodies of two of his sons, a 10-year-old shot in the back as he apparently tried to run away, and a 12-year-old shot in the chest.

"That's it, I'm taking my other boys out of school," he said, "It's not safe. The gunmen are attacking schools and there is no protection for students despite all the soldiers," he added.

Militants have increasingly targeted schools, including health workers on vaccination campaigns, teachers and government workers, while farmers have been driven from their land.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on May 14, and deployed thousands of troops to halt the insurgency, but in spite of this, peace has continued to elude the region.