Family of slain Boko Haram leader wins government compensation

Jan 10, 2012, 17:30 GMT

Abuja - The family of slain Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf has won 100 million naira (625,000 dollars) as compensation for his killing, police sources said Tuesday.

Yusuf, the former leader of the sect, was killed in 2009 by police in Maiduguri, where the radical Islamist group is based.

His family had gone to court, asking for compensation for the killing.

Borno state, which encompasses Maiduguri, on Monday paid 40 million naira to Yusuf's family. Nigeria's federal government paid the remaining balance of 60 million.

Borno state governor Kashim Shettima, who presented the cheque to the family, said 'no amount of money could compensate for the loss of a patriarch ... I pray God continues to grant you the fortitude to bear the loss.'

Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed more than 600 people in Nigeria since 2010, has not released a statement or spoken out on the development.

But Monday's payout is a sign of dialogue between President Goodluck Jonathan's government, which has vowed to quash the activities of the sect, and the group.

A three day ultimatum imposed by the sect - which is pushing for recognition and sharia law to be imposed across Nigeria - ordering southerners to leave northern Nigeria, lapsed last Wednesday, followed by further attacks that killed more than 30 people.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a string of church bomb blasts on Christmas Day that killed at least 30 people, as well as an attack on the UN headquarters in Abuja last August.