konknaijaboy | On 02, Feb 2014

Outlawed Islamist sect Boko Haram has been suspected of killing a Muslim cleric, Sheikh Adam Albani, his wife and child in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Albani was a staunch critic of the Islamic extremist group.

His assassination came just hours after the fatal shooting, also by members of the sect, of a Christian preacher, in Adamawa state.

The first attack happened when unidentified gunmen shot at Albani’s car at about 10:30 pm (2130 GMT) on Saturday in Zaria, as he drove home from teaching a theology class.

Local resident Mohammed Usman said Albani’s wife and son were immediately hit, while the gunmen appeared to have dragged the cleric from the car and shot him at close range.

“We kept hearing gunshots very close to our homes and later we heard the sound of a car retreating and when we later came to the scene we found Sheikh Albani lying outside the car with lots of bullet holes on him,” the resident added.

“He was still alive but his wife and a child she was holding in the front seat were already dead while the rest of the children sitting in the back seat were unharmed.”

Albani’s brother Kaburu Adam said the cleric, who had criticised the group and had given his support to the Nigerian military campaign against them, died shortly after he was admitted to hospital.

Ten people tried to repel the attack with hunting rifles, said Madagali local government chairman Maina Ularamu.

The attackers made off with four cows and also killed two goats, said Ularamu, who declined to say whether Boko Haram fighters were responsible.

But the attack came after 26 people, most of them worshippers, were killed in a Roman Catholic church in Waga Chakawa, also in Madagali, last Sunday.

“All we know is that the gunmen were not soldiers, although they were dressed in military uniform, because some of them wore bathroom slippers instead of boots,” he said.

Others had their faces covered, he added.

Thousands of people have been killed since 2009 in attacks blamed on Boko Haram, which want to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.