Radical Islamist group Riots in Bauchi

[Richard Akindele]

At least 32 people have been killed in a gun battle between security forces and a radical Islamist group in north-east Nigeria, reports say.

Dozens of people attacked a police station in Bauchi city but were repelled, Reuters news agency said.

The agency quoted a police spokesman as saying the militants belonged to Boko Haram, a group seeking the imposition of sharia law across Nigeria.

Islamic law has been in effect in the state of Bauchi since 2001.

AFP news agency quoted a hospital nurse, Awwal Isa, as saying that as many as 42 people had been killed in Sunday's clashes.

One of the dead was a soldier, he said.

Dozens of people were also reported to have been injured.

The police spokesman, Mohammed Barau, said the situation had been brought under control and that members of the gang were being detained.

One gang member, who gave his name as Abdullah, told Reuters the group had retaliated because authorities had been arresting its leaders.

The man was also quoted as saying that the group wanted to "clean the [Nigerian] system which is polluted by Western education and uphold sharia all over the country".

In February, Bauchi was the scene of clashes between Muslim and Christian communities, which left four people dead.

Nigeria's 140 million people are split almost equally between Muslims and Christians and the two groups generally live peacefully side by side.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8169359.stm

[Richard Akindele]

Islamist militants seeking to impose a Taliban-style regime in northern Nigeria launched attacks Monday on police in three towns, expanding a two-day campaign of violence that has killed at least 55 people, police and witnesses said.

Dozens of people have been killed in gun battles between police and Islamist insurgents in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri. The BBC's Bilkisu Babangida got to the scene shortly after the shooting ended.

At the police headquarters the situation was alarming.

There were about 100 corpses. Most of them had gunshot wounds.

They looked to be members of a religious sect, although it was difficult to tell.

Military personnel, police and other security officers were all around the police headquarters.

They were patrolling around shooting in the air.

They were all well-armed. Even the police commissioner and all the other senior officers were holding guns.

The people were panicking - they could hear gunshots and did not really know what the security situation was.

Roadblocks and curfews

The group had attacked the new prison complex, then the police offices, houses and vehicles.

They were fighting against the police and security forces.

BBC map

After the attack, as heavily-armed police patrolled the streets, it was reported that they were going to come back to the headquarters to get revenge for the people who were killed.

But security forces seemed to keep control.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been put in place and security personnel are patrolling all over town - particularly outside government and police buildings.

They have also put roadblocks up all over town.

There is a lot of tension among the people - all the shops and banks have been closed all day. There has been no commercial activity whatsoever.

The police commissioner has asked people to move away from the areas where the attacks took place, and people have been moving their relatives and children to other places for safety.

'Not Muslim'

The attack was not a complete surprise. Over the past few weeks, rumours had been circulating of possible attacks just like this one.

Through text messages and mobile phone conversations people were saying these individuals were going to come out at about midnight and attack.

The rumours were right.

Now reports are saying this attack and the ones in other states could have been carried out by people loyal to a preacher called Mohammed Yusuf.

Three days ago, after 10 of his followers were apprehended by the police, journalists spoke to him by telephone and he said he would continue to struggle, against security officers and the country in general.

He belongs to an Islamic sect who does not believe in Western education - he says anybody who has Western education is not a Muslim.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8171482.stm