Nigeria: Sectarian clash claims 38 lives in Bauchi State.

Text of report by Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust website on 28 December

Thirty eight people died at Zango village on the outskirts of Bauchi yesterday in what the police said was a clash between members of a fringe Muslim sect described as the Kala Kato. The sect members had earlier in the day killed a soldier and a policeman, who were on security duties for the state's Operation Flush. Among those killed yesterday was the sect leader Malam Badamasi, who was from Alkaleri Local Government Area in Bauchi State.

Residents said the sect members had held a preaching session the previous night at which they espoused views regarded by the wider Muslim community as heretical. Early yesterday morning, the sect members numbering more than 500 also embarked on a procession.

Bauchi State Police Commissioner Atiku Yusuf Kafur told newsmen in Bauchi yesterday that "the sect members burnt four houses, two belonging to them while two belonged to their neighbours." He said 16 people were injured including a police man and "we rescued 16 people …