Hundreds flee homes in Nigeria gun battles

Hundreds of people fled their homes in northeast Nigeria yesterday after deadly all-night gun battles between Islamists and security forces amid an escalation in violence.

We are afraid the soldiers will raid and burn our homes

The latest clashes with the Islamist sect Boko Haram came amid growing fears of widespread religious violence in Africa’s most populous nation, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

On Friday night, 10 people were gunned down in a church in Yola – the latest such attack in an escalating wave of violence since Christmas Day bombings of churches and other targets killed scores of people.

The streets of Potiskum town elsewhere in the northeast emptied yesterday after fierce shootouts between the Boko Haram gunmen and police.

A policeman and a civilian were killed when the gunmen robbed three banks, according to residents.

About 30 people have been killed in attacks targetting Christians in two days in northern Nigeria. Police said after the overnight fighting in Potiskum, where the Islamists attacked its headquarters and robbed and burnt three banks, that a death toll had not yet been determined.

“Our men engaged Boko Haram gunmen in shootouts for most of the night, which led to some deaths and injuries,” Yobe state police commissioner Lawan Tanko told AFP. “It is too early to give figures because we are still investigating the incident.”

Dozens of Islamists had storm­ed the town – part of a region placed under emergency rule by President Goodluck Jonathan a week earlier – and launched gun and bomb attacks on police headquarters.

They also threw a bomb into a nearby police barracks but no-one was hurt, said residents.

People in nearby neighbourhoods fled their homes in fear of military raids in the aftermath of the attack, they said.

“Virtually all the residents have fled their homes for fear of attack by soldiers who came to the town this morning,” said Idris Bakanike, a resident of the Dogo Tebo area near the police headquarters.

“We are afraid the soldiers will raid and burn our homes like they do in Maiduguri each time Boko Haram attack,” said local resident Amiru Umar.

Soldiers in the northeastern city of Maiduguri have been accused of burning homes and shooting residents after attacks by the Islamists, accusing residents of complicity.

Nigeria has been convulsed by a spate of attacks.