The militant leader blamed for days of violence in northern Nigeria has been shot and killed while in police custody, officials said Thursday. The police commander of Borno state announced on state radio that Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the sect some call the Nigerian Taleban, has “died in police custody.” He gave no further explanation, but the state governor's spokesman Usman Ciroma told The Associated Press: “I saw his body at police headquarters. I believe he was shot while he was trying to escape.” Yusuf's death could provoke more violence, though his followers in the Boko Haram sect may be in disarray. Troops shelled his compound in the northern city of Maiduguri Wednesday, but Yusuf, 39, managed to escape with about 300 followers, some of them armed. Earlier Thursday, Nigerian forces put extremists to flight in a brutal all-out assault on their northern stronghold after an uprising led to clashes that have left hundreds dead. Nigerian troops raided the rebel headquarters in the northern city of Maiduguri, killing some 200 followers of the self-styled Taleban sect along with its deputy leader. “We have taken over their enclave, they are on the run and we are going after them,” Colonel Ben Ahonotu, the operation's commander, said of the raid in the Borno state capital. A spokesman for the Borno state government said the situation was under control and a dusk-to-dawn curfew in place since Monday had been relaxed. “Nigerian security are on top of the situation,” Usman Chiroma said. Maiduguri has seen the worst of the unrest in northern Nigeria which started on Sunday in nearby Bauchi state. At least 600 people have been killed in the five days of clashes in Borno and three other northern states. Maiduguri police spokesman Isa Azare said that 180 women and children “kidnapped” from parts of the country's north by the extremists were rescued.
