A militant Islamic sect in Nigeria, Boko Haram, was suspected in the deaths yesterday of a Muslim cleric in Konduga, Borno state, and the district head of Geidam in Yobe state, police officials said.
Police are investigating the killings and no arrests have been made, spokesman Samuel Tizhe said by telephone today from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno. Yobe police chief Tanko Lawan confirmed the killing of the district head today by phone from Damaturu, the capital.
Authorities in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, blame Boko Haram, which draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, for a wave of bombings and attacks targeting security officials and government buildings in the mainly Muslim north and Abuja, the capital, since 2009.
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is a sin,” says it’s fighting to establish Islamic Sharia law across the West African nation. The group claimed responsibility for multiple blasts and attacks in the city of Kano on Jan. 20 that killed at least 256 people, according to the Civil Rights Congress.
Feb192012