The human rights organisation Human Rights Watch has called for an independent investigation into the killing of the leader of an Islamic sect, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people last week. Mohammed Yusuf, head of the Boko Haram group, died during a shoot-out after being caught by the army. Human Rights Watch claims he was executed.

The Boko Haram sect has been blamed for last week's sectarian violence, in which the Red Cross estimates around 800 people were killed.

Preacher

Police caught Mohammed Yusuf, the radical preacher who leads the group, in the southwestern town of Maiduguri, home to the organisation's main mosque and headquarters. They later claimed he was killed when he attempted to escape.

Extrajudicial and illegal

But Human Rights Watch says his shooting was "extrajudicial and illegal" and have demanded authorities carry out an immediate investigation.

Eric Gutschuss, HRW's Nigeria researcher, said:  "There has been a long history of carrying out extrajudicial executions in police custody and unlawful killings by members of the security services. It is not uncommon for police to use as their explanation for these killings that the suspect escaped.

"From our sources on the ground in Nigeria we believe there is strong evidence to support the finding that Mr Yusuf was extrajudicially executed in police custody at state headquarters in Maidiguri."

Report

Last month Human Rights Watch published a report entitled Arbitrary Killings by Security Forces focusing on two days of ethnic violence in November 2008 in Jos, the capital of the Plateau state.

Eric Gutschuss said: "During these two days of sectarian violence, the security forces carried out 133 unlawful killings in Jos. These were cases where the security forces entered into people's homes and shot people, pulled them out of their homes and lined them up on the street and executed them.

"These were not cases where the security forces were justified in their use of deadly force."

Listen to the full interview with Eric Gutschuss