[size=20pt]Nigerian sect leader 'captured' [/size]

Corpses are said to litter Maiduguri following days of fighting
The leader of the Nigerian Islamist sect which has been battling security forces in the north-east of the country has been captured, say police.

Mohammed Yusuf had fled the northern city of Maiduguri during the recent fighting between his followers and the Nigerian military.

Scores of people are believed to have died in the unrest.

The group, known as Boko Haram, wants to overthrow the government and impose a strict version of Islamic law.

Troops stormed the sect's stronghold overnight, killing many of the militants and forcing others to flee.

Their leader, Mr Yusuf, is thought to have escaped the assault on his stronghold along with several hundred of his followers.

"Mohammed Yusuf has been arrested. He is now at the Giwa barracks," said police commissioner Christopher Dega, referring to the military base in Maiduguri.

A BBC reporter in Maiduguri said Mr Yusuf, believed to be a 39-year-old preacher from Yobe state, had been paraded before journalists with no apparent sign of injury.

He was reported to have been found hiding in a goat pen at his parents-in-law's house.

Hundreds fled



Thousands of people are thought to have fled the fighting in Maiduguri
The fighting began on Sunday night in Bauchi state and spread to Maiduguri the next night.

Crowds of militants tried to storm government buildings and the city's police headquarters, but dozens of them were shot dead by security forces.

Over the next few nights gun battles raged between the militants and police and army, culminating in the assault on the militant's stronghold on Wednesday night.

Witnesses described seeing about 100 bodies strewn around the complex, and said a mosque used by the militants had been shelled into the ground.

It is thought more than 300 people have died in the violence - some estimates say 600, although there has been no official confirmation.

Witnesses said the city was calm on Thursday evening.

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

The country's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.

source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8177390.stm

should we be happy or sad, everybody is a loser

if he was caught hiding in a goat pent. . . then I am disappointed.

but just like saddam hussein. . .this intellectually impotent extremists cannot dance to their own music. . .what a shame.

As per the course in the Nigeria "injustice" system they killed the asshole before he was brought to trial and interrogated as to how he was able to foment such a murderous group.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8177451.stm

tunku:

As per the course in the Nigeria "injustice" system they killed the asshole before he was brought to trial and interrogated as to how he was able to foment such a murderous group.

too bad, those he killed too did not have the privilege of stating their case. Good riddance to one more of allah's demented slaves.

allah's henchmen are ridiculous . . . was this not the same guy telling us he was ready to die for his cause?

found hiding in a goat-pen in his father-in-law's house?

Detained Nigeria sect head 'dead'
A Nigerian police officer points at a corpse in the northern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday
Militants led by Mr Yusuf have been blamed for days of deadly violence

The leader of an Islamic sect blamed for days of deadly violence in Nigeria has been killed in custody, police officials say.

The announcement came just hours after police said they had captured Mohammed Yusuf in the city of Maiduguri.

Mr Yusuf leads Boko Haram, which wants to overthrow the government and impose a strict version of Islamic law.

His followers have been blamed for violence in the north-east that has left more than 300 people dead.

"He has been killed. You can come and see his body at the state police command headquarters," said Isa Azare, spokesman for the Maiduguri police command, told Reuters news agency.

He was arrested earlier in the day, after reportedly being found hiding in a goat pen at his parents-in-law's house.

Troops had stormed the sect's stronghold on Wednesday night, killing many of the militants and forcing others to flee.

The violence began on Sunday night in Bauchi state, before spreading to other towns and cities in the northeast.

Crowds of militants tried to storm government buildings and the city's police headquarters, but dozens of them were shot dead by security forces.

Several days of gun battles between militants and Nigerian security forces ensured, culminating in the assault on the militant's stronghold.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8177451.stm

davidylan:

allah's henchmen are ridiculous . . . was this not the same guy telling us he was ready to die for his cause?

found hiding in a goat-pen in his father-in-law's house?

Apparently, he isn't so keen on the 72 virgins reward afterall. . .

Allaaaaaaawhu Arched Bar!!!!

grafikdon:

Apparently, he isn't so keen on the 72 virgins reward afterall. . .

Allaaaaaaawhu Arched Bar!!!!

or he actually knows there are no virgins anywhere. . . , islam is a fraud.

[size=15pt]The group and its leader - background[/size]


They have launched co-ordinated attacks across northern Nigeria, threatening to overthrow the government and impose strict Islamic law - but who exactly are the Nigerian Taliban?

Since the group emerged in 2004 they have become known as "Taliban", although they appear to have no links to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Some analysts believe they took inspiration from the radical Afghans, others say the name is more a term of ridicule used by people in Maiduguri, the area where they were founded.


We believe [rain] is a creation of God rather than an evaporation caused by the sun

Mohammed Yusuf
Militant leader


Militants 'under siege'
Fear and tension after attack
The group's other name, Boko Haram, means "Western education is a sin" and is another title used by local people to refer to the group.

Isa Sanusi, from the BBC's Hausa service, says the group has no specific name for itself, just many names attributed to it by local people.

If their name is uncertain, however, their mission appears clear enough: to overthrow the Nigerian state, impose an extreme interpretation of Islamic law and abolish what they term "Western-style education".

Flat-Earth views?

In an interview with the BBC, the group's leader, Mohammed Yusuf, said such education "spoils the belief in one God".



"There are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and understood that the present Western-style education is mixed with issues that run contrary to our beliefs in Islam," he said.

"Like rain. We believe it is a creation of God rather than an evaporation caused by the sun that condenses and becomes rain.

"Like saying the world is a sphere. If it runs contrary to the teachings of Allah, we reject it. We also reject the theory of Darwinism."

Mr Yusuf himself is something of an enigma.

He is believed to be in his mid-thirties, and analysts say he is extremely wealthy and highly educated.

"He is graduate educated and very proficient in English," says Nigerian academic Hussain Zakaria.

"He lives lavishly - people say he drives a Mercedes Benz. And he is very well-educated in a Western context."

'We could see it coming'

Despite the secrecy surrounding the group, many in Nigeria say the attacks were far from surprising.

Mannir Dan Ali, a journalist with Abuja-based Trust newspapers, says there was a minor incident in early June which appeared to spark a series of statements from the group threatening reprisals.


Now it is becoming a monster, the government has realised it has made a mistake

Amenu Abu Bakka
Nigerian journalist
"The whole situation seems to be a failure of intelligence, a failure of the security forces to act before matters reached the point that they have now reached," he says.

"We could literally see it coming over the past few weeks."

There has been widespread criticism of the security forces for their perceived laxness in monitoring the group.

Boko Haram's members are largely drawn from disaffected youth - university students and jobless graduates among them.

Aminu Abubakar, a journalist covering the area for the AFP news agency, says it is widely believed that the authorities have been reluctant to deal with the militants because some of them come from rich families with connections to the government.

"People believe the government didn't want to crack down on these people because their parents would get angry," he says.

"But now it is becoming a monster, the government has realised it has made a mistake and the earlier they deal with these people, the better."

No 'swelling of ranks'

Divisions remain on how much of a threat the group poses - and how to deal with it.

Information ministry spokesman Sunday Dare says support for the militants' cause is waning.



Bodies were piled up on the streets of Maiduguri on Monday
"We live in a country where people are quite educated and I guess people are happy to make their decisions about Western education or otherwise and how it corrupts their values," he says.

"I don't see a swelling in their ranks at all."

And Patrick Wilmot, a former lecturer at Jos university, said mainstream Muslims look on the so-called Taliban as "crazy".

"They don't need to be taken that seriously, they just need to be monitored."

The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Lagos, says the group's member have isolated themselves from the rest of the community.

She says there have been incidents where local groups have prevented them from meeting in mosques and there is very little support for their stance in the wider community.

But the upsurge in violence has caused real alarm throughout Nigeria.

More than 100 people were killed as a wave of unrest spread from the city of Bauchi on Sunday through Borno, Yobe and Kano states the following day.

And no-one seems to know just how big a threat the so-called Taliban pose, how big their membership is, or what their next move could be.

noetic2:

or he actually knows there are no virgins anywhere. . . , islam is a fraud.

perhaps he wanted to enjoy his virgins here on earth first.

He was arrested earlier in the day, after reportedly being found hiding in a goat pen at his parents-in-law's house.



hmmm

He was caught having sex with the goats.

lmao @ him being found in a goat pen.

sucks they killed him without trial though.

i wonder what his arrest signifies

Why did they have to kill him?

This is really sad. Ultimately, he would have been killed all the same, but we need to see proper police work.

I'm just tired of this whole situation.