20120303
AFP
Gunmen shot dead a soldier Friday in the northern Nigerian city of Kano where members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect recently killed 185 people in coordinated bomb and gun attacks, residents said.

Two motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire and killed the soldier outside the home of a senior military officer he was guarding in the city's Hotoro district and made off with his rifle, they told AFP.

"The two men came on a motorcycle around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) and one of them dressed in shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt fired two shots at the soldier...and took his rifle before speeding away," Shafi'u Malami, a witness said.

Another resident, Kawu Dauda, said: "I heard two gun shots from my house and I stayed inside for around 10 minutes before heading to the scene and I saw the dead soldier in his pool of blood".

An AFP reporter saw two military vans leaving the area with one carrying the dead body of a soldier. He was wearing military boots and army trousers.

Residents remained indoors and vendors deserted the streets for fear of reprisal attacks by soldiers, the AFP reporter said.

Army officials were not available for comment.

Gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect have in recent days resorted to drive-by shootings targeting security agents and residents they suspect are supplying information on the group to security personnel.

Last week, five people including the head of a local vigilante group, were shot dead in a city mosque by two motorcycle-riding suspected Boko Haram gunmen.

Violence blamed on the sect, whose goals remain largely unclear, has since mid-2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year alone, according to AFP and rights groups.