KANO, Nigeria (AP) — An official says gunmen have killed 15 people in a daylight attack near a northern Nigerian city where a radical Islamist sect last week killed 185 people.
Zamfara state spokesman Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin Magaji said Friday that the gunmen burned the bodies of their victims in a village in Katsina state on Thursday, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Nigeria’s largest northern city of Kano.
Birnin Magaji said the Muslim traders had been traveling from Zamfara state in a minibus to sell their goods in a market in Katsina state.
He said authorities suspect an armed robbery attack, but no goods were reported missing.
The killings come days after the Boko Haram sect claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks in Kano. However, Birnin Magaji said it was unlikely that the sect was involved because the area had seen similar attacks.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — An audio message allegedly posted to the Internet by the leader of a radical Islamist sect threatens the president of Nigeria and denies his group killed civilians in a recent attack that saw at least 185 people die.
The video posted to YouTube shows a still image of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the sect known as Boko Haram. Speaking in Hausa, Shekau says negotiations suggested by President Goodluck Jonathan between the government and the sect will not happen.
Shekau said: “If Jonathan does not repent as a Muslim, even if I die myself, Jonathan’s going to see. He’s looking at me like I’m nobody, but he’ll see.”
The sect claimed a Jan. 20 attack in the northern city of Kano that killed at least 185 people.
