Nigerian 'Islamists' kill governor's driver, chief
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KANO, Nigeria — Suspected members of an Islamist sect blamed for a series of attacks in northern Nigeria have shot and killed a driver for a state governor as well as a local chief, police said Friday.
The driver, Mai Kadai, had just left home Friday morning and was on his way to the Borno state governor's office when two gunmen on motorcycles shot him dead, said police commissioner Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar.
"From all indications, they knew who he was and were on his trail," Abubakar told AFP of the attack in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
Referring to the Islamist sect, he said: "Apparently, this attack was carried out by members of Boko Haram. The mode of operation resembles Boko Haram's."
The attack followed another late Thursday that saw two motorcycle-riding gunmen open fire on local chief Abba Mukhtar outside his home in Maiduguri, killing him and seriously wounding a friend, police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi said.
The attackers in that incident were also suspected to be sect members, he said.
Boko Haram launched a short-lived uprising in parts of the north in 2OO9 in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state.
It was crushed in a brutal military crackdown that saw hundreds of people killed and the sect's headquarters and mosque destroyed in Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred.
In recent months, the sect has been blamed for a series of attacks on military and police personnel, community and religious leaders and politicians, including the high-profile killing of a leading governorship candidate.
It has also been blamed for raids on police stations, churches and a prison.
Police have said they believe some of the recent attacks were politically related, with Nigeria having held presidential, parliamentary and governorship elections in April.
Borno State governor-elect Kashim Shettima this week offered to grant amnesty to sect members if they renounce violence, an offer someone claiming to be a sect spokesman has rejected. Shettima assumes office on May 29.
Source: AFP News
