ABUJA/KANO — Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said he sacked his security chiefs because new tactics are needed to fight Islamist group Boko Haram.
He dismissed his defence minister and security adviser after about 150 people were killed last week.

“[Boko Haram] are changing their tactics everyday, so you also have to change your staff and personnel,” he said in an interview on national TV.
He was speaking after armed men freed 40 prisoners in Damaturu, in the north.

It is not clear who did, but the city was one of those worst hit by last week's violence.
Boko Haram has also previously staged several jailbreaks.
President Jonathan said he would be happy to open dialogue with Boko Haram but not while the group was “faceless”.

“We must have a face to tell us why you are doing what you are doing and then of course we dialogue.”
He urged Christians not to retaliate against Muslims after Boko Haram attacks, saying this was exactly what the Islamist group wanted.
“Attacking churches is to instigate religious crisis,” Nigeria’s president said.

“They believe that when they attack a church, Christian youths will revolt against Muslim youths. They don’t care about who dies in the process.
“If it doesn’t work, the same Boko Haram will start attacking mosques to instigate Muslim youths to attack Christians. So they change their tactics.”
Scores of people died in revenge killings in Kaduna state last week after churches were bombed. Boko Haram has said it carried out the attacks

Yobe state police commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe said his men were overpowered by at least 40 attackers at the Damaturu prison.
He said there were no suspected Boko Haram members in the jail. No group has said it carried out the attack.
The jailbreak comes after a week of violence in northern Nigeria including attacks on churches by Boko Haram which left about 150 people dead.

Meanwhile, an explosion near a cluster of bars in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi, recently targeted by Boko Haram Islamists, injured nine people, police said ysterday.

The home-made explosive device planted in an unfinished building next to a group of pubs went off at around 10:00pm on Sunday in the city’s Tudunwadan Dan-Iya neighbourhood, Bauchi state police commissioner Mohammed Ladan said.

“It was an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) planted in the relaxation spot that caused the explosion which injured nine people but there were no deaths,” Ladan said.
“We still don’t know who was behind the attack but we have commenced investigation into the incident.”

Among those injured were seven men, a woman and a three-month old girl, he specified.
No group claimed the attack, but the city has been previously targeted by Boko Haram, responsible for more than 1 000 deaths since mid-2009. — bbc.co.uk