Nine workers killed in Nigeria

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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 around 1.45am, 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 (the 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," the statement said.

No arrests had yet been made.

Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, and Damaturu, the 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. - Sapa-AFP



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