MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Five days of fighting between government forces and a radical Islamist sect left dirt roads soaked with blood, buildings scorched and dozens dead, including the group’s leader, but revenge attacks were feared even as the national police claimed victory.
Mohammed Yusuf, head of the Boko Haram sect, was killed Thursday after he was found hiding in a goat pen at the home of his in-laws, but the circumstances grew murkier Friday.
Police said Yusuf was killed in a gunfight, but a Nigerian army officer disputed that.
“He was arrested alive,” Army Col. Ben Ahonatu told The Associated Press. “There was no shootout.”
Police, who invited local journalists to view Yusuf’s battered corpse Thursday evening, insisted he was fatally wounded in combat.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called for investigations into Yusuf’s death and other killings during the upheaval in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria.
Emmanuel Ojukwu, spokesman of the national police, said Yusuf’s death spelled the end of his group, which espouses anti-Western views and had been gathering disciples for years.
“This group operates under a charismatic leader. They will no more have any inspiration,” Ojukwu said.
Most Boko Haram members are young, poor and unemployed.
