Boko Haram Kills 4 Persons Again

Gunmen suspected to be members of the dreaded anti western Islamic group, the Boko Haram, have killed shot four persons in a bar in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, Nigeria’s North eastern state.

The killings were the latest strike by the militant Islamist sect, police said on Tuesday.

Boko Haram, whose name translates from the local Hausa language as “Western education is sinful”, has claimed responsibility for almost daily attacks in the state, Bauchi and Abuja.

Members of the sect have also claimed responsibility for the bombing of the police headquarters in June and the United Nations building in the capital last month, killing 23 people.

“The Boko Haram members went to the beer parlour at about 8pm (1900 GMT Monday) killing three customers and the owner of the joint,” said Abubakar Kabiru, police spokesman for Borno state.

He said two more persons were shot dead on Sunday by suspected members of the sect, which wants sharia law more widely applied across Nigeria.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said the heightened security risks in Nigeria were keeping foreign investors from putting funds into sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy.

Nigerian authorities have made several arrests since the U.N. blast and eight suspected members of Boko Haram are due to be arraigned in an Abuja court on Tuesday. It was not clear what they will be charged with.

Boko Haram’s attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and intelligence officials have said there is evidence to suggest some members have trained in Niger and have connections with al Qaeda’s North African wing.

The group’s views are not espoused to by the majority of the Nigeria’s Muslim population, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.