Africa
Nigerian soldiers hunt Islamic sect members as women, children freed
Smoke rises from Maiduguri prison after it was set on fire by members of a local Islamic group in Yobe state July 27, 2009. The group which wants a wider adoption of Islamic law across Africa's most populous nation have burned churches, a police station and a prison and clashed with the security forces in Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Yobe states. Picture taken July 27, 2009. REUTERS
Posted Wednesday, July 29 2009 at 18:35
The four northern states are among the 12 of Nigeria's 36 states that started a stricter enforcement of sharia in 2000 -- a decision that has alienated sizeable Christian minorities and sparked bouts of sectarian violence that killed thousands.
The group has made no clear demands beyond calling for a new leader in Nigeria ready to implement sharia law. Its members include students as well as illiterate, jobless youths whipped into an anti-establishment frenzy over a period of years.
Yusuf's views have little traction with most of Nigeria's moderate Muslim population.
Police in Sokoto state in the northwest arrested five members of Boko Haram -- which means "Western education is a sin" -- late on Tuesday, including former university lecturer Kadiru Atiku, believed to be the group's local leader.
"Poverty, injustice and the inability of the government of the day to implement the sharia legal system is the reason why the sect is calling for a change of leadership for Nigeria," Atiku told reporters after his arrest.
Police said the five men had been found with weapons including knives and machetes and were thought to be planning attacks on members of the public and security agencies.
The violence in the north is not connected to unrest in the Niger Delta in the south, where militant attacks have prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two-thirds of its oil capacity. (Reuters)
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