Abuja - Attackers
killed nine Nigerian construction workers early on Monday in the restive
north-eastern city of Maiduguri, the base of the Islamist Boko Haram sect, the
army said.
The victims,
working at Shehu of Borno's Central Mosque in the city, were
"massacred" by unknown assailants at about 01:45, said a statement
from the Joint Task Force (JTF).
In a text message
to AFP, a senior army officer, who asked not to be named, said they had been
"slaughtered" by suspected members Islamist Boko Haram sect.
"Probably
Boko Haram terrorists slaughtered them...They [victims] are Nigerians ,"
he said, without giving further details.
"The victims
were living in a compound located at Bolori general area, Maiduguri
Metropolis...," said the JTF statement.
"JTF troops
rushed to the area/compound and saw the dead bodies and they were deposited at
the mortuary Borno State Specialist Hospital," it added.
No arrests had yet
been made, he said.
Maiduguri, capital
of Borno state, and Damaturu, capital of neighbouring Yobe state, have
repeatedly been hit by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.
It is responsible
for more than 1 000 deaths since the middle of 2009 in Africa's most populous
nation and largest oil producer.
Gunfire and
explosions rocked restive city of Damaturu on Saturday as security forces
launched a pre-emptive offensive against Boko Haram Islamists, killing three
suspcted members.
Co-ordinated gun
attacks
The offensive
followed intelligence that the extremist group were planning another attack on
the city again, the deputy police spokesperson of the state said.
On 19 June, the
Nigerian authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew on Damaturu for two days,
following co-ordinated gun attacks on targets around the city that they
attributed to Islamist militants.
It was partially
relaxed after soldiers and police reclaimed control of the streets in an
offensive that left at least 40 people dead, including 34 alleged Boko Haram members.
The Islamist
group's insurgency, concentrated in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, has
frequently targeted the security forces, though the Islamists have also
attacked Christian churches and other symbols of authority.
The government's
response to Boko Haram in past months has included heavy-handed military raids.
But they have failed to stop the extremists and antagonised residents in the
districts subjected to the raids. Boko Haram initially said it was fighting for
the creation of an Islamic state, but its demands have since shifted
repeatedly. It is believed to have a number of factions, including a main
Islamist wing. Kano, Nigeria's largest city in the north, was the site of Boko
Haram's deadliest attack yet, when co-ordinated bombings and shootings killed
at least 185 people dead in January.