Boko Haram,,they had their 15 minutes of fame.

[Diyeeshaha_Tolka]

Nigeria's Boko Haram chief 'killed'


Security forces have been deployed heavily and the situation is 'totally under control' [AFP]



Nigerian police have claimed the killing of Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of an Islamic group Boko Haram while in detention.

A police officer said Yusuf, blamed for violence that killed hundreds of people in northern Nigeria, was shot dead following his capture on Thursday.

"He has been killed. You can come and see his body at the state police command headquarters," Isa Azare, spokesman for the police command in the northern city of Maiduguri, said.

The death announcement came after reports said that at least 180 people had been killed and thousands displaced following clashes between security forces and fighters from the group, which seeks to impose Islamic law across Africa's most populous country.

Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Borno state in northern Nigeria, said: "One cannot be a hundred per cent sure of what the police are saying about the capture and death of Mohammed Yusuf for two reason.

"One, the military and police are under sustained political pressure to root out Boko Haram. Two, on Wednesday we were told that Yusuf and at least 300 of his supporters fled Maiduguru as they were being pursued by Nigerian security forces.

"What we have asked the Nigerian police force for is evidence that they have actually captured Mohammed Yusuf but we have not got it."


Profile: Boko Haram
Video: Deadly Nigeria fighting rages on
Video: Dozens killed in violence in northern Nigeria
Pictures: Deadly clashes hit Nigeria


News of Yusuf's death came after the group's deputy leader was reported to be among dozens of people killed after troops shelled Boko Haram's base in the city of Maiduguri.

Crackdown

Security forces were said to be pressing ahead with the hunt for Boko Haram members on Thursday.

The government warned people to evacuate the area, then shelled and stormed the group's mosque and headquarters on Wednesday night.

A firefight ensued with retreating Boko Haram members armed with homemade hunting rifles, firebombs, bows and arrows, machetes and scimitars.

A reporter for the Associated Press news agency saw soldiers shoot their way into the mosque before opening fire on those inside.

The reporter later counted about 50 bodies inside the building and another 50 in the courtyard outside.

Our correspondent said there has been a "reduction in some of the fighting and that's because the Nigerian security forces have been able to flush out some Boko Haram members".

"It now appears many of the Boko Haram members have fled the scene, but there has been more violence in another state - Kano state - not far from Borno state, where we understand that security forces bulldozed a mosque and a house where the alleged leader was living," she said.

Bystanders 'killed'

A spokesman for a human rights group said government forces had killed bystanders and other civilians as they battled members of the sect.

But a military spokesman denied the charge and said it was impossible for rights workers to differentiate between civilians and members of the Boko Haram.

Abubakar Umar Gada, a senator from Sokoto state in northern Nigeria, told Al Jazeera that security agents had been deployed heavily and the situation "is totally under control".



He said Boko Haram had "taken advantage of the large number of people who are unemployed" and lacking opportunities to better their lives.

"We largely have a social problem that has been taken advantage of by these miscreants to cause havoc and confusion," Gada said.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is prohibited" in the local Hausa dialect, has called for the enforcement of sharia even among non-Muslims.

Nigeria's 140 million people are nearly evenly divided between Christians, who dominate the south, and the primarily northern-based Muslims.

Islamic law was implemented in 12 northern states after Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 following years of military rule.

The clashes began on Sunday in nearby Bauchi state, with fighters attacking police stations, before spilling over into Yobe.

Residents said fighters armed with machetes, knives, bows and arrows and home-made explosives attacked police buildings and anyone resembling a police officer or government official in the city.

But most of the casualties appear to have been in Maiduguri, the northeastern city known as the birthplace and stronghold of the group

[AhlulbaytSoldier]

These masakiin were slaughterd like defendless sheeps.

[AbdiWahab252]

These masakiin were slaughterd like defendless sheeps.

U are soft

[ModerateMuslim]

i really think it was about oil.

[AbdiWahab252]

Congrats to the Nigerian Army for squashing these criminals before they spread their poison

[GENERAL_SNM]

i really think it was about oil.

No oil in the northern states sxb, all the oil is in the christian south. I think its more about fringe groups who use the holly book to advance their criminal activity. The biggest sin in Islam is taking life's but these groups have made that a hobbie and then still they are the rightouse people. Its time they went back to basics.

[ModerateMuslim]

AUN:

[Kanada]

Damn these guys got run over quick. hundreds dead in just a couple of days.

AUN

[ModerateMuslim]

Damn these guys got run over quick. hundreds dead in just a couple of days.

AUN

they most likely weren't armed.

[SahanGalbeed]

Damn these guys got run over quick. hundreds dead in just a couple of days.

AUN

Do you think the Nigerian military is sheikh shariif's militia?
You guys in the South are fighting ONE guy's own militia with the help of fuckin foreigners and shit .
If Somalia had at least the troops of Puntland and Somaliland , the Al shabaab would have been dealt with in matter of weeks