official shot dead in Nigeria

official said yesterday, amid a wave of such attacks blamed on an Islamist sect. The attackers killed Lawan Yaraye, chairman of Kukawa district in Borno state, where most of the attacks blamed on the sect known as Boko Haram have occurred. His home was in the city of Maiduguri, the epicentre of the violence. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for last Friday’s suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja, but police are considering all possibilities. – AFP.