Nigeria, a strategically important oil producer and Africa's most populous country, is unraveling in violence from a growing insurgency known as Boko Haram that is bent on revenge for the killing of its leader by police. The group is demanding job-creation programs and the imposition of Islamic law in the country's impoverished north, where it emerged with ferocity nine years ago.

Late Wednesday, about 20 gunmen presumed by officials to belong to the rebel group stormed a prison south of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and freed at least 119 inmates, a government spokesman said.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

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