Adding to the pains of Africa’s most populous nation, hundreds of Muslims fled their homes on Saturday, January 7, in fear of military raids in the aftermath of all-night gun battles between radical Boko Haram group and security forces.

"Virtually all the residents have fled their homes for fear of attack by soldiers who came to the town this morning," Idris Bakanike, a resident of the Dogo Tebo area near the police headquarters, told Agence France Presse.

Residents accused soldiers in the northeastern city of Maiduguri of burning homes and shooting residents after attacks by Boko Haram radicals, accusing residents of complicity with them.

"We are afraid the soldiers will raid and burn our homes like they do in Maiduguri each time Boko Haram attack," said local resident Amiru Umar.

The latest clashes in the town, placed under emergency rule by President Goodluck Jonathan, came amid growing fears of wider religious violence in Africa's most populous nation.

Dozens of soldiers were deployed on Saturday and took up positions around the police headquarters, firing sporadically following gun and bomb attacks by members of Boko Haram in the northeastern town of Potiskum.

They also threw a bomb into a nearby police barracks but no-one was hurt, said residents.

After the overnight fighting in Potiskum, police had not announced yet the death toll.

"Our men engaged Boko Haram gunmen in shootouts for most of the night, which led to some deaths and injuries," Yobe state police commissioner Lawan Tanko told AFP.

"It is too early to give figures because we are still investigating the incident."

The military has been accused of killing civilians and burning their homes after previous bomb attacks attributed to Boko Haram.

Last August 2011, Nigeria’s ministry of defense said it will probe alleged military misconduct by troops who were reported to be responsible for abuses of civilians during a crackdown on Boko Haram group in northeast of the country.

Local residents blamed army troops of abuse of power, going out in mass protests against their actions, including the arrest of several teachers from an Islamic school on suspicion of affiliating to Boko Haram.

Boko Haram says it wants a wider application of Shari`ah across Africa's most populous nation.


http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/455296-nigerians-flee-homes-as-violence-flares.html