Killings lead to fears of Nigerian Islamist sect's return

Killings lead to fears of Nigerian Islamist sect's return
IC Publications
27 October 2010

A Nigerian Islamist sect routed in a brutal assault last year is feared to have reemerged with a series of attacks and shootings, leading to military patrols and grim reminders of 2009 unrest.

Police suspect the sect, known as Boko Haram, has been behind a spate of deadly shootings by gunmen on motorcycles in Nigeria's north, as well as attacks on police stations and a prison raid that freed more than 700 inmates.

Military deployments, including army checkpoints and two helicopters that hover above throughout the day, have been sent to this northeastern city in recent weeks.

Hundreds were killed after the military and police launched an assault to put down an uprising by the sect last year, leaving its headquarters and mosque in ruins.

A video has emerged purporting to show the Islamists raid the prison in the city of Bauchi in September -- an attack that also freed about 100 suspected sect members -- as well as issue new threats.

The militants in the video say they do not want to be known as Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language.

They say in the video, which includes a picture of Osama bin Laden, that they want to be called a phrase that translates roughly to "People Committed to the Prophet's Teachings for Propagation and Jihad."