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| Africa: West | |
| Niger arrests Islamic radicals over Nigeria revolt | |
| 2004-01-05 | |
| Niger has arrested seven suspected Islamic militants over an uprising in neighbouring Nigeria last week and has offered to extradite them, a Niger official said on Monday. "Here, you take them. We’ve got enough nuts of our own." Militants stormed police stations and local government buildings in at least five towns in northern Nigeria last week in what state media called an attempt to set up a Taliban-style Islamic government in part of Africa’s most populous nation. The Niger official went to Nigeria’s Borno state capital Maiduguri to tell authorities of the arrests after Nigerian troops crushed the week-long uprising. "We have arrested seven of the Islamic militants who attacked Yobe and Borno states last week," the official, who asked not to be named, told reporters. He said he invited the governors of the states to Niger to take custody of the detainees, who were arrested in a hideout in Niger’s Diffa Province. Skipped town, did they? Bet they’re important holy men, they always seem to be quick on their feet. A Nigerian tank battalion of 500 troops has joined hundreds of police and state security officials combing the savannah region bordering Niger for members of the group, named by local media as Ahlul Sunnah Jamaa. "The militants are breaking up in small numbers to make their arrest difficult, but the whole brigade has been mobilised to search for those militants still at large," said Brigadier General Harris Musa Zarma. That’s a pretty serious force, no wonder they took off. It’s much easier to beat up the local cops and burn down a few churches than face a tank battalion. Yobe state government spokesman Ibrahim Jirgi said the group, also known as Hijrah, was composed mostly of students in their 20s. Look around, there’ll be a handful of elder statesman providing guidance and funding.
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| Posted by:Steve |