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'Islamists' free hundreds of inmates in Nigerian jail attack
Suspected members of an Islamist sect have freed hundreds of inmates in an attack on a prison in northern Nigeria that led to a fierce gun battle with authorities, officials said Wednesday.
Authorities said more than 700 inmates escaped in the Tuesday night attack, including at least 150 alleged sect members. The sect blamed for the attack, known as Boko Haram, had launched an uprising in Nigeria's north last year.
Bauchi state police commissioner Danlami Yar'Adua reported four people killed, including a soldier, a police officer and two residents.
The head of Nigeria's prisons, Olusola Ogundipe, said during a visit to the scene on Wednesday that more than 120 inmates had since returned on their own and an unspecified number had been arrested.
Officials gave varying figures for the number of prisoners who initially escaped, with Ogundipe saying 721 and the state prison director putting it at 732.
All of the alleged sect members who escaped were believed still missing. Police said military checkpoints were set up throughout the area.