Islamic militants launch fresh attacks on police stations

An armed Islamic militant group inspired by the Taliban in Afghanistan has launched a fresh series of attacks on police stations in northeastern Nigeria, nine months after it first took up arms in the region. Government officials said armed militants of the Al Sunna wal Jamma sect attacked police stations in two towns in Borno state on Monday night, killing six people, including four policemen. The group, whose name means "Followers of the Prophet" in Arabic, first came to public notice in December 2003 when it launched a series of attacks on remote towns in neighbouring Yobe state and went on to attack the state capital Damaturu. That group of around 200 militants, was rapidly broken up by the security forces. Many of its members were killed or arrested, but some escaped into nearby Niger and Cameroon. The latest attacks took place in the towns of Bama and Gworza in the east of Borno state, close to the Cameroonian border, Borno state police commissioner Ade Adekanye told reporters. In Bama, 73 km southeast of the state capital Maiduguri, a group of about 20 militants killed the local police commander and two other policemen, he said. In Gworza, some 40 kilometres further south, a similar armed band killed one policeman and two civilians and abducted four other people, he added. Borno State spokesman Adamu Jiri said local vigilantes had joined the police in battling against the militants, forcing them to retreat into hills near the Cameroon border. The security forces followed them in hot pursuit, he added. The Al Sunna wal Jamma sect was formed by university and polytechnic students in Maiduguri, two or three years ago, but drew adherents from all over Nigeria. Many of them were the children of wealthy and influential people. It first took up arms in December last year with the attacks in Yobe state. Its members attacked police stations in the small towns of Geidam and Kanamma, close to the Niger border, and occupied the two settlements for several days, raising the flag of Afghanistan's Taliban movement over their camps there. Eventually soldiers and police moved in to push them out. At least 18 people died in the ensuing clashes, most of whom were members of the insurgent group. Political analysts saw the emergence of Al Sunna wal Jamma as a sign that violent, extremist groups may be gaining a significant foothold in religiously and ethnically divided Nigeria. They expressed fears that they could make the country a theatre for acts of terrorism and worse sectarian violence than it has seen in recent years. Although four members of the group were killed while attempting to break out of jail in Damaturu in June, Monday’s attacks on Bama and Gworza were the first since the militants were routed in early January. “Intelligence reports show they were out revenging the killing of their members in Yobe," police commissioner Adekanye said. Nigeria's volatile mix of religions and its history of repeated outbreaks of sectarian violence make authorities understandably nervous about the emergence of this pro-Taliban group. The country's 126 million population is roughly split between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south with a significant number of Animists in between. In the past four years 12 states in northern Nigeria have adopted the strict Islamic or Shari'ah legal code. This prescribes harsh penalties including the amputation of limbs for stealing, stoning to death for adultery and public flogging for drinking alcohol. The adoption of Shari'ah has heightened tensions between Muslims and Christians and has led to repeated outbreaks of communal violence in which thousands of people have died.