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| Nigeria arrests Boko Haram 'head' Muhammed Hamza Aliyu | Nigeria arrests Boko Haram 'head' Muhammed Hamza Aliyu |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| One of the leaders of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been arrested after a shoot-out in the northern city of Kano, police say. | One of the leaders of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been arrested after a shoot-out in the northern city of Kano, police say. |
| Muhammed "Hamza" Aliyu was held as he tried to flee the city following an exchange of fire outside his residence, they said. | |
| Three police officers and four militants were killed, according to Kano state police chief Ibrahim Idris. | Three police officers and four militants were killed, according to Kano state police chief Ibrahim Idris. |
| Boko Haram has staged numerous attacks across northern and central Nigeria. | Boko Haram has staged numerous attacks across northern and central Nigeria. |
| The group, whose name means Western education is forbidden, often targets the security forces and state institutions. | The group, whose name means Western education is forbidden, often targets the security forces and state institutions. |
| In August it claimed responsibility for a bomb at the UN headquarters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, which killed at least 23 people. | In August it claimed responsibility for a bomb at the UN headquarters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, which killed at least 23 people. |
| However, the BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar says that until last week, Kano, the biggest city in northern Nigeria, had been spared from the group's recent campaign of violence. | |
| On Thursday night, suspected members of the group attacked a military run secondary school near the city, killing four air force officers, hospital sources said. | |
| On Saturday, Mr Aliyu suspected that his house was under surveillance and called in members of his militant group to attack the police resulting in the shootout, Mr Idris said. | |
| Weapons and ammunition suspected to have been stolen from recent attacks on police stations in northern Nigeria were found in his car, while bomb-making materials were located in his house, the police chief said. | |
| Mr Idris said 14 people were detained. | |
| Mr Aliyu's arrest comes after that of a man accused of being the group's spokesman and a senator accused of concealing information about the militants. | |
| The group first came to prominence in 2009 when hundreds of its followers were killed when they attacked police stations in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri. | |
| Its founder Mohammed Yusuf was arrested but died in police custody. | |
| Boko Haram resumed its attacks - mostly in Maiduguri - a year later and has since staged deadly raids across the mostly Muslim north, as well as central areas such as Jos and Abuja. | |
| Under Yusuf's leadership, the group demanded that Nigeria become an Islamic state but it is now believed to be made up of several factions, with various demands. |