Few voters for local elections in northern Nigeria state that is battling Islamic uprising

DAMATURU, Nigeria – Few voters straggled to polls to elect local councils in a northeastern Nigerian state that is battling Islamic militants who say democracy in corruption-riddled Nigeria is an enemy of the people.

Heavily armed police and State Security Service agents guarded polling stations and manned roadblocks Saturday in Yobe state, which suffered some of the most brutal attacks on schools by extremists this year.

President Goodluck Jonathan's People's Democratic Party is boycotting amid fears for the safety of candidates. But it was unlikely to do well in a state controlled by an opposition coalition.

Some 1.2 million people are eligible to elect 17 councils and a chairman from 188 candidates and 10 political parties.

Thousands have been killed in the Islamic uprising to install Islamic law across Africa's biggest oil producer.