Nigeria clashes kill over 50 in northeastern city

[bamalli]

BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - More than 50 Nigerians were killed on Sunday in clashes between security forces and militants in the northeastern city of Bauchi, residents and hospital sources said.

The fighting began early on Sunday when around 70 militants armed with guns and explosives attacked a local police station in retaliation for the arrest of their leaders.

Police and soldiers repelled the attack and then raided neighborhoods to arrest those responsible. Hospital sources and residents said more than 50 people were killed in the fighting.

A Reuters reporter counted 32 bodies at two Bauchi police stations and said dozens were wounded among the more than 200 arrested. The official government death toll is 39, including one soldier.

"We have pre-empted the militants. Otherwise the situation would have been bad," Bauchi state Governor Isa Yuguda told reporters.

"I'm calling on all the people of Bauchi to be calm and be rest assured the situation has been brought under control," he added.

The governor imposed a night time curfew in Bauchi for the next few days to calm tensions. There was an increased police presence in some neighborhoods, but businesses remained open and people were milling the streets freely before the curfew.

ISLAMIC GROUP

Police spokesman Mohammed Barau said the militants belonged to Boko Haram, a local group that wants sharia (Islamic law) to be imposed on all of Nigeria.

A member of Boko Haram who was wounded during the initial attack on the police station told Reuters his group wanted to "clean the (Nigerian) system which is polluted by western education and uphold sharia all over the country."

"The police has been arresting our leaders that is why we decided to retaliate," said the man, who gave his name only as Abdullah.

The Islamic group is not connected to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Nigeria's most prominent rebel group responsible for a campaign of violence that has devastated Africa's biggest energy sector since early 2006.

Bauchi is one of 12 states in the predominately Muslim north that started a stricter enforcement of sharia in 2000 -- a decision that has alienated sizable Christian minorities and sparked bouts of sectarian violence that killed thousands.

Nigeria is roughly equally split between Christians and Muslims, although traditional animist beliefs underpin many people's faith.

More than 200 ethnic groups generally live peacefully side by side in the West African country, although civil war left one million people dead between 1967 and 1970 and there have been bouts of religious unrest since then.

Last November, hundreds were killed in two days of clashes in the central city of Jos after a disputed election triggered the worst fighting between Muslim and Christian gangs in years in Africa's most populous country.

(Writing by Randy Fabi; editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

[gogannaka]

The Nigerian authorities have stepped up security across the north of the country, following two days of violence in which at least 100 people have died.

Soldiers have set up road blocks and imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews in the worst affected areas of Yobe, Kano and Borno States.

Islamist militants staged attacks on police and government offices.

There have been reports of youths armed with machetes and guns killing police officers and civilians at random.

Nigeria's military and police have been ordered to use all means necessary to contain the violence, the BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos reports.

Gun battles
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that police stations had been attacked and civilians pulled from their cars and shot dead.

In the town worst affected by the violence, Maiduguri in Borno State, bodies of residents and militants have been piled outside the police station and in the streets.

A BBC reporter there counted 100 corpses.

Some of the militants are believed to be supporters of a preacher based in Maiduguri, Mohammed Yusuf, who says Western education is against Islamic teaching.

Nigeria's police are understood to be searching for him.

Late on Monday night there were still reports of shooting in Maiduguri.

Earlier, witnesses told the BBC that a battle had raged for hours in Potiskum, Yobe State, where a police station and neighbouring buildings were reportedly razed.

There was also attacks on police in Wudil, some 20km (12 miles) from Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria.

Security is said to have been particularly beefed up in Plateau State, to the south of Bauchi, where hundreds were killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians last year.

Mr Yusuf's followers are known as Boko Haram, which means "Education is prohibited".

Youths began attacking police stations on Sunday after some of the group's leaders were arrested.

Correspondents say Boko Haram has aroused suspicion for its recruitment of young men, and its belief that Western education, culture and science are sinful.

Reuters news agency reports that one of the group's leaders, arrested in Kano state, said his followers were standing up for their faith.

"Even if I'm arrested, there are more to do the job," Abdulmuni Ibrahim Mohammed is quoted as saying.

Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the country.

The country's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims and Christians and the two groups generally live peacefully side by side, despite occasional outbreaks of communal violence.
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The Nigerian Intelligence community has failed as usual.

• The leader of the sect vowed to take revenge for the killings in Bauchi.
• A Bomb being handled by a member of the sect detonated in Maiduguri.
• The Taliban group started like this from Yobe-Maiduguri-Kano 2 years back.

With all these pointers,the Intelligence agencies could not avert this recent crisis.
What a shame.This means someone does not know how to do the job.
Honestly someone should be held responsible for the intelligence failure.

[EMTL]

Assalamu alaikum,
Allah (SWT) Ya kiyaye dukkan fitina.

[nasr19]

Amin, summa amin, EMTL. And in the meantime, more fodder for the hungry anti-north/anti-islamic press! I'm sure these unfortunate incidents will be twisted out of proportion and context. Hmm, big pity... :'(

[HUSNAA]

Well who gave them the fodder? One makes one's bed and so one must lie on it. Besides one should be inured to the slurs of the southern press by now; they have nothing better to report that is all.

[nasr19]

Husnaa, with my head buried in shame, I must admit that we gave them the fodder and, sadly, we continue to do so.  I have developed a thick skin too but can't help the occasional pain.  But is the situation so hopeless? Is it beyond redemption - i mean, other than our oft-repeated mantra of "Allah(SWT) Ya kiyaye", etc?

When I heard the BBC interview with the leader of the group where he said that they were against western education and cited the example of its teaching that rain comes from condensation of evaporated vapors instead of "being sent by Allah(SWT)", I simply did not know what to think! This is a western-educated man who should know that at least in this case, there is no conflict between the "western" teaching and Islam. It seems that some people will use any means necessary to support their cause however ill-conceived. Worst, they will always get followers from the products of our (?) society.

As you so succinctly put it, this is the bed we have made over the years and we must lie on it. Remaking this bed is a herculean task and for now, what can we mere mortals do but supplicate, em, Allah(SWT) Ya kiyaye mana fitina, amin. (even if, mu, ba mu kiyaye wa kanmu ba).

[Baruti M. Kamau]

From reading the establishment's reports reproduced at this web site, it is clear to me that Nigeria's intelligence sources were aware that Muhammad Yusuf's Boko Haram were accumulating arms.  That was the basis for the arrests.  In my opinion, from an outsider looking in, they did a good job based on the info and resources they had to work with.  Atleast, so far, this recent mess is not as bad as the Maitatsine disturbances in 1980 Kano which led to more than 10,000 deaths and many more rendered homeless and destitute.

[gogannaka]

I just read that the sects leader has fled into the bush after a fierce gun battle with the army.
How prepared are the Nigerian army?
Isn't this a lame excuse,that he has fled. The house is within the metropolis,it could have been surrounded 360 degrees to ensure that no one flees the scene.
And couldn't they have used military helicopters to comb the bushes.Infact,are there really bushes in Maiduguri?

Dem don fall my hand honestly.

[usman11]

It is interesting how some people here would rather focus on everything else besides the problem. Is this the first time fundamentalist jihadists have struck? Is this the first time we've witnessed religious incidents like this? When this madness hadn't gotten out of hand, many of you here excused it as the work of a few misguided youth. You blamed destruction of lives and property on frustration emanating from lack of economic empowerment, jobs, etc., and conveniently lied to yourselves about what was really going on.

Now, the self deception has come full circle, and what you once defended has become a problem to you all. But again, like the Ostrich, you'd bury your heads and place blame of law enforcement, on the intelligence community, on everybody else but the those responsible for breaching the peace. Therein lies the problem. You now suddenly remember law enforcement right? Keep in mind that this fugitive Taliban style leader and his group share the same philosophy as most of the northern leaders in regards to national adoption of Sharia, and the Islamization of Nigeria. When the political leaders abandoned civil law and adopted a religious one, they essentially dared the law to reverse their decision. We all know the intelligence community and law enforcement is powerless in your neck of the woods. Before they cough, they must obtain permission. They are too timid, too afraid to operate within their jurisdiction for fear of offending the Lords of the north. So why expect them now to have been on top of this mess when all along their hands were tied behind their backs? You people cannot have it both ways. I am glad this is happening, and hopefully, the fallout from this chaos would affect some of you.

For those who oddly concern themselves with the Southern media, I say you have bigger issues than to worry about how the Southern media would have a field day with this story. The whole World is already aware and have been aware of for some time now about the reoccurring fanaticism from that enclave.
This is a classic example of the chickens coming home to roost. Yes, Husnna, as you make your bed, so shall you lie on it.

Have fun with it while it lasts.     

[Baruti M. Kamau]

Like I said before the Nigerian security forces and intelligence community should be congratulated for not letting the situation become worse than what it is.  I find it interesting that when Nigeria falls under civilian rule religious fanaticism rears its ugly head.  But when Nigeria is under military rule, it appears the military is better and more prepared to confine religious fundamentalism.  Any comments?

[Dave_McEwan_Hill]

Those who gave the new independent nation of Nigeria a secular constitution were very wise.
The current nonsense with the whole world watching religious zealots disgracing Nigeria again is the result of ignorant and bigoted zealots who don't understand why that first constitution was made that way,
You cannot have a democracy and a theocracy operating in the same space.
They are opposites.
The north of Nigeria has many people who want to walk backwards to the middle ages.

[nasr19]

Usman11, I fail to see any reason for your smugness and "i told you so" euphoria. OK, extremists have surfaced several times from OUR "enclave" and rendered havoc culminating in loss of lives and property. Is that enough reason to lambast all muslims?  Do such extremists spare other muslims? Are their actions supported or even encouraged by other muslims? Problem with most of your type is ingrained hatred for sharia and its adherents which colors all your perceptions.  Sure, every true muslim leader will like to see sharia adopted, but only for muslims. Even the politicians who exploited this desire make this distinction. But somehow, you guys extrapolate this desire to mean islamization of Nigeria, whatever that means.

If bad elements in any society are left to wreak havoc, who else is there to blame than the government and its security agencies?  And how can anyone claim that joblessness, ignorance, etc are not factors?  Do you know the genesis of this group? Please checkout Dan-Borno's post on http://kanoonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=4671.0

Well, here is some "good" news for you: so long as the situation remains unchanged and we continue to have self-serving, incompetent leaders in place, its only a matter of time before another set of wildcats will arise to give you a chance to "enjoy the fun".

Of course the so-called world media which the southern press apes will have a field day. So what? That's nothing new, bad news sells, and nothing gets reported from our side of the planet but the very worst.  You are right on one thing though, that's shouldn't be our concern.  But our concern (at least mine) is definitely not "lords of the north" who dared to introduce sharia no matter what their motives could be. No, the greater concern is for the sorry state we are in as a result of collective failure, corruption, etc.  This is the bed that we, including you Usman11, must continue to lie on.

[Baruti M. Kamau]

Boko Haram leader executed by Nigerian security forces
http://www.bmkdispatch.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=56

[Dave_McEwan_Hill]

nasr 19

The point you make is the significant point.  " Sharia law only for muslims" is an understandable and defendable position.

Unfortunately many who are agitating for Sharia law do not sit in this position. They want everybody - moslem and non moslem - to be subject to Sharia law and, in fact, Sharia law to replace Nigeria's laws in parts of Nigeria.
This is anti-democratic and a recipe for national disaster.

[Muhsin]

Assalamu alaikum,

R>I>P MY.

Did I sound supportive of his actions? I hope not. :D