US embassy cable - 04ABUJA17

UNCLAS ABUJA 000017 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KIRF, PHUM, NI, POLMIL 
SUBJECT: Army Fights Fundamentalist Group in Yobe 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR PUBLICATION ON THE 
INTERNET OR INTRANET 
 
1. (SBU) On Christmas Day, Nigerian members of an 
extremist Islamic sect destroyed the police station in 
the town of Kanamma in Yunsari Local Government Area 
(LGA) in Yobe State near the border with Niger, killed 
a policeman, and carried away arms and ammunition.  The 
sect lost three of its own members in the process. 
They kidnapped three other policemen whom they later 
released. 
 
2. (SBU) On December 28 they moved south to Geidam LGA, 
still in Yobe State near the Niger border, where they 
attacked three police stations.  The group then 
reportedly attacked a police station in Damaturu (about 
200 km further south), the Yobe State capital, in the 
early morning of January 1.  The group was repulsed, 
though two officers were killed.  Between December 29 
and January 1, a small joint force of police and army 
launched a retaliatory attack and pushed the group out 
of Kanamma and Geidam.  The leader of the sect was 
captured (name reported as Mullah Musa), varying 
reported numbers of sect members were killed, four 
police officers were killed, and numerous sect members 
have fled into the wild leading to reports that clashes 
are continuing.  Local media reported on January 6 that 
seven members of the group were arrested in Difa, 
Niger. 
 
3. (SBU) State Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim claimed many 
"Taliban-oriented radicals" seeking an Islamic state 
had been killed in the military attack and that the 
group was "effectively crushed."  Ibrahim said the 
group migrated from Maiduguri in Borno State and set up 
a camp in an open area between Yobe State and the Niger 
Republic.  The governor stated that his government had 
sought to persuade the group to move on after 
complaints from local residents but that instead they 
had turned on security forces.  The governor referred 
to the group as "Muhajirun," a term used for Islamic 
freedom fighters, and "Hijrah."  Media reports listed 
the name of the group as Al Sunna Wal Jamma, with 
numerous translations. 
 
4. (SBU) The GON has not been able to confirm any of 
the various reports about the group's origins or 
agenda, other than the attacks above.  Some press 
reports say the sect is made up of mainly middle-class 
Nigerian university students and graduates based in 
Maiduguri and inspired by the Taliban's vision of an 
Islamic state.  During the last Eid-el Fitr, they 
reportedly distributed leaflets in which they accused 
the government of fraudulent activities and non- 
adherence to Shari'a. 
ROBERTS