Nigeria Islamist fighters attack police station, dozens die

October 10th, 2009 Nigeria oil tanker truck explosion kills 14ABUJA, Nigeria — A Nigerian official says at least 14 people died when a petroleum tanker truck exploded and set nine other vehicles alight on a road in southeastern Nigeria. Nigeria Road Safety Commission spokesman Ben Ekenna says 12 bodies were badly burned and five people were injured in the blast in Anambra state on Friday.

August 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama condemned the terrorist attacks in Russia's Caucasus region Monday that killed at least 20 people. The attack on the police station in Nazran, Ingushetiya also left 138 people injured.

August 12th, 2009 Clinton presses Nigeria on corruption, violenceABUJA, Nigeria — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the Nigerian capital pressing the government of Africa's most populous nation to curb widespread corruption and enact democratic reforms.

August 6th, 2009 Family: Nigeria sect leader's father-in-law killedMAIDUGURI, Nigeria — The father-in-law of an Islamist sect leader who set off violence that left hundreds of people dead in northern Nigeria was shot and killed and buried in a mass grave, a relative said. Babakura Baa, the eldest son of Baa Fugu Mohammed, said Wednesday that he believes police killed his father after he went voluntarily to a police station because he heard that authorities were looking for him.

August 3rd, 2009 MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Police in northern Nigeria say they're investigating how a homegrown Islamic sect unleashed a wave of violence that left more than 700 people dead in clashes last week. Borno state police spokesman Isa Azaza says police are holding 20 men suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect.

August 2nd, 2009 Nigeria disregarded warnings over violent sectMAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Muslim clerics in northern Nigeria say authorities ignored dozens of their warnings about an Islamist sect that last week attacked police stations and government buildings in a bloodbath that killed more than 700 people. Imam Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi says he and 50 other Muslim leaders repeatedly warned police, local authorities and state security services about the violent Boko Haram group.

July 31st, 2009 Group: investigate Nigerian sect leader's deathMAIDUGURI, Nigeria — An international rights group is calling for an investigation into the death of the leader of a Nigerian Islamist sect in police custody. New York-based Human Rights Watch says reports that Mohammed Yusuf was shot and killed are "extremely worrying." Yusuf died in police custody Thursday night after a four-day manhunt for members of the extremist sect some call the Nigerian Taliban.

July 31st, 2009 LAGOS - At least 600 people were killed in clashes this week between the security forces and Islamist militants in Nigeria, the police said. The Nigerian Army said the battle against the militants will continue till the rebels are defeated.

July 30th, 2009 NAIROBI/ABUJA - Nigerian Islamists have fled an army onslaught after four days of fighting that killed over 200 people, media reports said Thursday. Boko Haram, a group called the Nigerian Taliban, launched a series of attacks on police stations across northern Nigeria Sunday.

July 29th, 2009 NAIROBI/ABUJA - Nigerian security forces Wednesday laid siege to the compound of an Islamist leader whose followers have been battling police for four days. Over 150 people have died since Sunday, when Boko Haram, a group often called as the Nigerian Taliban, launched a series of attacks on police stations across northern Nigeria.

July 27th, 2009 Nigeria police: 55 dead in Islamist attacksABUJA, Nigeria — Islamist militants seeking to impose a Taliban-style regime in northern Nigeria launched attacks Monday on police in three towns, expanding a two-day campaign of violence that has killed at least 55 people, police and witnesses said. Trouble began Sunday when militants attacked a police station in the northern city of Bauchi, leaving dozens dead in gunbattles with police.

July 26th, 2009 NAIROBI/ABUJA - At least 40 people have died in clashes between an Islamist sect and police in northern Nigeria, reports said Sunday. Broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported that around 70 Nigerians wielding guns and hand grenades attacked a police station in Bauchi early Sunday morning.

July 26th, 2009 Nigeria: police-Islamist clash kills 39ABUJA, Nigeria — Islamist militants attacked a police station in northern Nigeria Sunday, and police killed 39 militants and arrested more than 150 others, a police spokesman said. The Islamist fighters attacked a station in the capital of Bauchi state, state police spokesman Mohammed Barau said.

June 21st, 2009 Nigeria militants claim attack 2 Shell pipelinesABUJA, Nigeria — Militants in Nigeria say they have attacked two pipelines belonging to oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says the pipelines were targeted by militant fighters before dawn on Sunday.

April 29th, 2009 Canadian woman kidnapped in Nigeria freedLAGOS, Nigeria — Police in Nigeria say a Canadian woman kidnapped this month in northern Nigeria has been released unharmed. National police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu says the woman was freed Wednesday in the northern city of Kaduna and no ransom was paid.