Curfew İmposed İn Nigeria's Bauchi After Attacks

Authorities in Nigeria's northern Bauchi State on Sunday imposed a 24-hour curfew in three local government areas of the state after attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants.



"The curfew was as a result of the ongoing battle between soldiers and Boko Haram fighters," Mallam Danlami Baban Takko, the governor's deputy chief press secretary, said.



He said the curfew was imposed in Bauchi, Alkaleri and Kirfi to enable security agencies to restore normalcy in the areas.



Suspected Boko Haram fighters attacked Alkaleri on Sunday, killing one person and injuring many others.



The militants have reportedly advanced to Kangere town, about 15kms to Bauchi town.



The situation in Bauchi town is tensed up amid fears the gunmen were planning an attack.



Boko Haram militants attacked voting centers in Bagurun Primary School in Yautara ward in Bauchi's Darazo Local Government Area Saturday, forcing voters to flee the polling unit.



At least 25 people were killed and five injured in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants on Borno's Buratai area Saturday.



Nine people were also feared killed in a Saturday morning attack by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Gombe Sate.



Boko Haram had threatened to disrupt the March 28 presidential and parliamentary election in a video by its leader Abubakar Shekau.



Millions of Nigerians went to the polls Saturday to elect a new president, 360 House of Representatives members and 109 senators.



The race is largely between Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has ruled the country since 1999, and Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who is running on the ticket of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of political interests.



Nigeria is fighting a six-year Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over one million people from the northeastern region, where the militants have been the most ruthless.



The Nigerian army confirmed on Friday liberating Gwoza, a town that the militant group had used as the headquarters of its self-styled "Islamic caliphate" in northeastern Nigeria.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Bauchi