Nigeria: Clashes between Boko Haram islamist sect and military forces, residents flee from city of Maiduguri
Thousands fled the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Tuesday and the local university was shut after a week of intensified clashes between an Islamist sect and military forces.
The Boko Haram sect, which says it wants a wider application of sharia Islamic law across Africa’s most populous nation, has claimed responsibility for the killings of police officers and attacks with homemade explosives on churches and drinking places in recent months.
Most of the attacks have been around Maiduguri, a city in one of the poorest regions in Nigeria. More than 150 people have been killed this year in the city of more than 1.2 million people.