Nigerian police raid Islamic sect, detain hundreds

Police in the western Nigerian state of Niger have raided an Islamic community and arrested hundreds of men, weeks after an uprising by a radical sect killed almost 800 in the remote northeast.

Niger state police commissioner Mike Zuokumor said officers backed by reinforcements from the capital Abuja had surrounded the compound of the Darul Islam community on the edge of the town of Mokwa early on Saturday.

“We received a series of reports about the activities of the sect from neighbouring communities, the local government and the Emirate [traditional leader],” Zuokumor said.

“Some of them were expressing apprehension concerning the activities of the group and it is our duty to ensure law and order among the citizens of the state,” he said.

Local journalists said as many as 3 000 people were thought to live in the community and that about 600 men had been taken to a nearby secondary school building for questioning by police.

Clashes three weeks ago between the security forces and members of a radical Islamic sect called Boko Haram killed close to 800 people in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, more than 800km away from Niger state.—Reuters