| 2009 Nigerian sectarian violence | |||||||
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| Part of Nigerian Sharia conflict | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Boko Haram | Nigeria | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mohammed Yusuf † Bukar Shekau |
Umaru Yar'Adua Ibrahim Geidam Ali Modu Sheriff Isa Yuguda Saleh Maina Christopher Dega |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Over 700 dead total.[1][2] | |||||||
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The 2009 Nigerian sectarian violence was a conflict between Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group and Nigerian security forces. The violence resulted in 700 deaths between 26 and 29 July 2009 across four cities in north east Nigeria.[3]
The battles began on 26 July when Boko Haram attacked a police station in retaliation for the arrest of its leaders. The Nigeria Police Force has responded with their own retaliation and a curfew fell on the area. The attacks spread and by the next day corpses were located at police stations, people were fleeing their homes and some were being pulled from their cars to be shot dead as police stations burned to the ground.
Nigerian troops then surrounded the home of Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri on 28 July after his followers barricaded themselves inside.
It is the worst sectarian violence the country has experienced since November 2008.[4] Islam online suggests that politics, not religion, was the cause of the violence.[5] However some people, including Christian pastor George Orjih, were reportedly murdered specifically because they refused to convert to Islam.[6]
Prior to the clashes, many local Muslim leaders and at least one military official had warned the Nigerian authorities about Boko Haram. Those warnings were reportedly ignored.[2]
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On 26 July, over fifty people were killed and several dozen were injured in Bauchi when a gun-battle erupted as a police station was attacked by seventy Nigerian Boko Haram gang members who possessed grenades and guns. 32 Boko Haram militants were killed in the fighting, along with a soldier.[7][8] The government claimed that 39 militants had been killed, and confirmed the death of a soldier. The attack was carried out following the detainment of the gang's leaders.[7] Security forces then retaliated by raiding the group's neighborhoods. [7]
Isa Yuguda, State Governor of Bauchi, commented: "We have pre-empted the militants. Otherwise the situation would have been bad. I'm calling on all the people of Bauchi to be calm and be rest assured the situation has been brought under control."
A night time curfew was declared in the aftermath and police maintained a visible profile.[8][9] Businesses were still open in the area.[8]
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100 bodies were reported to be found beside police headquarters in Maiduguri.[9][10] Hundreds of people are leaving their homes there to escape the violence.[9][10] A jailbreak was also reported but this has not yet been confirmed.[9] Several civilian corpses lie on the city's streets; many were shot dead after being pulled from cars.[9] The country's army and police are on patrol and firing.[9]
On July 28, Army soldiers reportedly launched an offensive on the compound of sect leader Mohammed Yusuf and a nearby mosque used by his followers in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri. Troops shelled Mohammed Yusuf's home in the city after Yusuf's followers barricaded themselves inside.[11][12][13] Shots rained across the city.[11] On July 30, Nigerian security forces killed 100 Boko Haram militants in fighting in Maiduguri. Security forces fought their way into a Mosque occupied by militants and raked the inside with machine gun fire. Elsewhere, Military and Police forces engaged militants in house to house fighting. It was initially reported that among them was Boko Haram vice-chairman Bukar Shekau, but that has since been proven false as video has appeared of Shekau since.[14] Nigerian policemen were also killed. Maidguri was declared secure, and Nigerian forces began setting up mortar positions in order to shell the remaining enemy compound. On July 30, Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, leader of Boko Haram, was captured by Nigerian security forces and was shot dead while in police custody, possibly while attempting to escape.[1] On August 2, another group of women and children abducted by the Boko Haram sect were found locked in a house in Maiduguri.[15] The military said 700 people were killed in Maiduguri during the clashes.[15] The Red Cross later said that 780 bodies had been taken from the streets of the city and buried in mass graves.[16]
A gun-battle lasting several hours took place in Potiskum where a police station was set alight and burnt to the ground by militants using fuel-laden motorcycles, killing a police officer and a fire safety officer. Police engaged the fighters and wounded several. Police arrested twenty-three fighters in response.[9] According to Nigerian sources, 43 Boko Haram fighters were killed in a shootout near the city on July 30.
Three people were killed in an attack in Wudil, leading to over thirty-three arrests.[9] Wudil's senior police officer was injured.[9]
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