Nigeria's military repelled multiple attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants on Borno state capital Maiduguri in the northeast, security sources said, but the insurgents captured another Borno town.
The assault on Maiduguri began just after midnight. Sources at two hospitals said at least eight people had died and 27, mostly civilians, had been injured.
A second attempt to take the city’s airport in the afternoon was also repelled.
A raid on Monguno, 140km north, began later in the morning and the town fell under militant control by the late afternoon.
The militants simultaneously attacked another town, Konduga, 40km from Maiduguri, but the military was able to repel the raid.
The army’s inability to quash the Sunni jihadist group is a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election in February and who visited the state capital yesterday . Opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari had been due to arrive today.
Election fears
The elections are expected to be the most hotly contested since the end of military rule in 1999, with many fearing violence in the aftermath.
US secretary of state John Kerry arrived in the commercial capital Lagos today to urge the candidates and their supporters to respect the election outcome, underscoring US concerns over post-poll violence that could undermine the fight against Boko Haram.
The five-year insurgency, which aims to carve out an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous country, has seen thousands killed.
This morning, a witness in Maiduguri said shelling could be heard, but by the afternoon calm had returned.The government said 150 people had been killed in that attack but local officials say the figure is far higher and some have put it as high as 2,000. – (Reuters)