Nigerian Muslim sect members kill rival cleric

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Police say a radical Muslim sect has killed a cleric belonging to a rival sect in Nigeria's restive northeast.

Borno state police chief Mohammed Abubakar said Tuesday that motorcycle-mounted gunmen shot Sheik Ibrahim Birkuti dead in his home Monday afternoon in the northeast town of Biu, south of the state capital of Maiduguri. Abubakar says members of a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram are responsible for the shooting.

Birkuti had been critical of Boko Haram's violence and belonged to the Wahabbi group, a splinter faction of Sunni Muslims.

Boko Haram is responsible for a rash of killings which have targeted security officers, politicians and clerics in Nigeria's north in recent months.

Wahabbi members advocate for the implementation of Shariah law in Borno state through peaceful means.