Mohammed Yusuf (39), Islamist leader of a Nigerian sect at the heart of days of incessant and bloody violence, has been shot and killed only hours after being arrested. The militant Islamist sect are known as Al-Sunna wal Jamma, ("Followers of Mohammed's Teachings,") or less formally as the Nigerian Taliban. The highly secretive sect wanted to impose Islamic Shariah law throughout the religiously diverse Nigerian region. The wave of street violence gripped Borno on Sunday manifesting itself in a spate of militant attacks on police stations, churches, prisons and government buildings. The violence quickly precipitated into three neighbouring states forcing the Nigerian government to take swift military action to quell tensions between the religious factions.
President Umaru Yar'Adua commented that the military action was a direct response to the threat of the Islamist sect’s preparation for a “holy war" being waged in Maiduguri and threatened to spill over into neighbouring regions.
Little information was forthcoming from Nigerian officials on the details surrounding Yusuf’s killing, except for Borno’s state governor's spokesperson reporting:
"I saw his body at police headquarters. I believe he was shot while he was trying to escape."
Nigeria’s Religious Diversity
Nigeria's 140 million population is roughly split between Christians in the south and northern-based Muslims. Shariah law has only been implemented in 12 of Nigeria’s northern states since the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999. Since the imposition of Shariah law more than 10,000 Nigerians have been killed in waves of sectarian violence that has plighted the region.
International observers blame wide scale impoverishment in the region as the principle catalyst for the violent religious confrontations. It has been the by-product of decades of miss rule and corruption by successive Nigerian governments that has culminated in this implosion of religious intolerance. Boko Haram members were incensed that full Shariah law had not been implemented, specifically areas of the section of Shariah law that demands the provision of a functioning social welfare system.
Allegations of Indiscriminate Shooting by Nigerian troops
Yusuf's death is an extremely worrying development and could spark further bloody violence on the streets of Nigeria. Yusuf’s Boko Haram ("Western Education Is Sin") Islamist sect, based in the northern city of Maiduguri was attacked by Nigerian troops on Wednesday. The attack on his compound has been reported to have killed Yusuf’s deputy, Bukar Shekau, whilst he himself escaped with 300 followers. An AP reporter put the militant death toll at around 100 whilst around 50 militant bodies were found inside the sect’s mosque. The AP reporter also witnessed Nigerian soldiers shoot their way into the Islamic mosque and rake the interior with gunfire leaving unsuspecting militants in their wake.
The streets of Borno’s capital city, Maiduguri, were littered with the gunshot bodies of countless young men by the following morning. Having neutralised the threat from with the mosque the Nigerian troops proceeded to launch a massive man hunt which resulted in Yusuf’s capture. Nigerian officials claim that at least 4,000 people have been displaced by the violent eruption and that it was too early to determine the exact level of militant casualties.
Human Rights Watch has called reports of Yusuf's death an "extremely worrying" development regarding the stability of the region. As regards his death, the group's senior West Africa researcher, Corinne Dufka, requested;
"The Nigerian authorities must act immediately to investigate and hold to account all those responsible for this unlawful killing and any others associated with the recent violence in northern Nigeria................The local commissioner of police should be immediately removed pending an investigation into Mr. Yusuf's killing.”
However, in the aftermath of the turmoil, there is widespread condemnation by Nigerian Human Rights organisations regarding the level of force deployed by Nigerian troops. These calls come in the midst of eye-witness allegations of indiscriminate shooting ‘in the back’ of innocent bystanders and other hapless civilians. Maiduguri resident Linda Dukwa witnessed Nigerian police execute two men on Monday. She described the Islamic militants as “dressed in white robes," and continued to explain the circumstances of their subsequent killing;
"They were held by policemen. Then they shot their feet. After they fell on the ground, they (police) shot their heads."
League for Human Rights director, Shamaki Gad Peter, has substantiated the allegations by claiming that members of his organisation had reported up to 20 unarmed people who appeared to have been shot in the back. These allegations are being fervently denied by military officials. Nigerian military spokesman Col. Mohammed Yerima claimed that it was near impossible to distinguish between militants and civilians during the fighting.
"All the civilians that were living in that place were evacuated, to our knowledge..............And those that remained in that enclave are loyalists and members of the group. So the issue of whether we have killed innocent civilians is not true........................The issue of identifying who is the Taliban or not, the human rights groups are not fair to security agencies because they don't have any marks on their faces. There is no way to know if this is Taliban or this is not."
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