German kidnapped as fresh blast strikes Nigeria's Kano

Gunmen abducted a German engineer on Thursday in the Nigerian city of Kano, where yet another explosion struck fear among residents plagued by unprecedented violence blamed on an Islamist sect. A purported leader of the Boko Haram Islamists threatened more attacks in an Internet message, saying the group could strike schools and universities in revenge for government crimes. Edgar Raupach, working with a construction company on the outskirts of the northern city, was seized by men who "came and handcuffed him and put him in the boot and zoomed away," said Kano police spokesman Magaji Majia. The spokesman also reported the blast at a bus terminal, saying it caused no casualties. Local media said five people were injured. Majia said Raupach was attached to Nigerian construction firm Dantata and Sawoe. An official from the German embassy in Nigeria told AFP its staff were trying to verify the police account. "The foreign office and the German embassy are working very hard on this," said the official, who declined to be named. The kidnapping of foreigners is rare in northern Nigeria and there were no immediate indications that Boko Haram was linked to the abduction. But, in a message posted on Youtube, the group's purported leader, Abubakar Shekau, said more violence will come if the government continues to mistreat Muslims. "Soldiers raided an Islamic seminary in (the northern town of) Maiduguri and desecrated the Koran. They should bear in mind that they also have primary and secondary schools and universities, and we can also attack them." The audio recording in the Hausa language played above a picture of Shekau, with a kalishnikov set in the background. The authenticity of the message could not be independently verified, but the photo matched up with previous ones said to be of Shekau and the voice was similar to earlier recordings. A presumed Boko Haram spokesman previously claimed responsibility for coordinated bombings and shootings on January 20 in Kano which left at least 185 people dead. Police stations were the main targets. "We were responsible," Shekau said in the message. "I ordered it and I will give that order again and again." He also insisted the group does not target civilians, but only kills "soldiers, policemen and their collaborators," whom he accused of torturing Boko Haram members. In Kano, a brief Thursday morning calm was disrupted by a fresh explosion that targeted a bus terminal where members of the mainly Christian Igbo tribe board coaches headed to their home area in southeastern Nigeria. Majia said the area was evacuated shortly after the blast, whose cause was not yet clear. Nigeria's security services have faced intense criticism amid the seemingly unchecked violence, and on Thursday a police official said a huge sweep of arrests had recently been carried out. A senior Kano police official said some 200 people had been arrested, most of them Chadian "mercenaries," following the January 20 attacks. "We have arrested around 200 attackers and 80 percent of them are Chadians. They came in as mercenaries," the official said on condition of anonymity. A UN report on regional security said there was evidence suggesting the Boko Haram had Chadian members who had received training from Al-Qaeda's north Africa affiliate. But a Nigeria specialist with the International Crisis Group (ICG) said it was unlikely the sect had such a high number of foreigners in its ranks. "I was shocked to hear that myself. Personally, I don't believe it," said Kunle Amuwo of the ICG. "We know some foreigners have been implicated and continue to be implicated, but that number is huge," he said, adding that, based on his research in the region, he believes most Boko Haram members are dejected Nigerian youths. Boko Haram initially said it was fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in deeply impoverished northern Nigeria and launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault. The group then went dormant for more than a year. It is now believed to have a number of factions with differing aims, including some with political links and a hard-core Islamist cell.