Detained Nigeria sect leader dies
The leader of an Islamic sect blamed for days of deadly violence in Nigeria has been killed in police custody, police officials have said.
Officials said Mohammed Yusuf was shot while trying to escape. They had announced his capture hours earlier.
Mr Yusuf led Boko Haram, which wants to overthrow the government and impose a strict version of Islamic law.
Hundreds of people have died in five days of clashes between his followers and security forces.
Mr Yusuf was held and later shot in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
“Mohammed Yusuf was killed by security forces in a shootout while trying to escape,” the regional police assistant inspector-general, Moses Anegbode, told Nigerian television.
A spokesman for the state governor told the Associated Press news agency: “I saw his body at police headquarters. I believe he was shot while he was trying to escape.”
State television showed jubilant police celebrating round his body, AFP news agency reported.
Troops had stormed Boko Haram’s stronghold on Wednesday night, killing many of the militants and forcing others to flee.
Mr Yusuf was arrested earlier on Thursday, after reportedly being found hiding in a goat pen at his parents-in-law’s house.
BBC News website Africa editor Joseph Winter says Nigeria’s security forces have a terrible reputation for brutality and human rights groups accuse them of frequent extra-judicial killings.
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