Posted by 9jabook.com on December 28, 2009 at 8:07pm
Deaths as police and sect clash in Bauchi, Nigeria
At least 20 people are thought to have died in clashes between security forces and members of a religious sect in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi.
Some eyewitnesses said as many as 37 people had been killed.The fighting came after local people told authorities they were alarmed by open-air preaching by the religious sect, which is known as Kala Kato.
Such preaching was banned in the state after an uprising by another sect, Boko Haram, earlier this year.
Hundreds of people were killed in the subsequent fighting across northern Nigeria.
The BBC's Caroline Duffield reports from Lagos that Kala Kato is a non-conformist Muslim sect made up of poor tradesmen, labourers and other working people.
Some residents in Zango, just south of the city of Bauchi, have said that in recent days the mood of their preaching had become aggressive.
The violence there began on Sunday morning. After some initial shooting the security forces retreated, before returning in greater numbers.
Members of the group had armed themselves with machetes and cutlasses, and appeared ready to fight armed police and soldiers, she adds.
A spokesman for the Bauchi state governor said the local military had been deployed, though other accounts spoke of a feared police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The Associated Press news agency cited Bauchi state official Mohammed Maigari as saying sect members had gone on the rampage to demand the release of their leader.
The sect leader had been arrested in connection with the killings of several Boko Haram members, AP reported.
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Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City The leaders of Aviele community, near the warring South-Ibie town, both in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, have raised the alarm over the possibility of another bloody clash in the two towns following the recent mayhem occasioned by the kingship tussle in South-Ibie.The struggle for the Aidonogie stool of South-Ibie between two ruling houses in the town about four weeks ago left over 10 persons dead and about 25 houses burnt.To this end, the Aviele community leaders, under the aegis of The Concerned Aviele Leaders, urged the state government and other parties involved in the matter to uphold the rule of law so that peace could reign in the area.The leaders, who spoke at the weekend through a statement jointly signed by their representatives, Honourable Abdulateef Momodu and Alhaji Mashood Amendu, called on the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who they described as an apostle of the rule of law, to ensure that due process was followed in the resolution of the kingship tussle, bearing in mind the various court judgments on the matter.While reviewing the various legal cases so far decided over the Aidonogie stool, the Aviele community leaders expressed displeasure over the recent statement reportedly credited to one of the contenders to the throne who they said falsely accused the chairman of the local government area, Mr. Gani Audu, of involvement in the crisis.According to the group,“the protracted crisis of the clan headship of South-Ibie predates the ascension of Mallam Audu to the enviable position of the Executive Chairman of Etsako West Local Government Area.”
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