Ethnic and religious violence in Nigeria claimed 16 more victims, with gunmen killing eight in the north and a mob torching an Islamic school in the south, as a fuel strike added to the deadly tension.

Amid the sectarian and social turmoil, Nobel literature prize laureate Wole Soyinka, one of the country's most respected voices, warned that the continent's most populous nation was heading toward civil war.

A two-day old general strike has paralysed the country and

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Police say three people were killed in attacks by a feared sect despite a state of emergency in areas of northeast Nigeria.

Borno state police chief Simeone Midenda said Wednesday that two suspected Boko Haram gunmen shot dead the head of the Shehuri neighborhood in Maiduguri Tuesday evening.

Yobe state police chief Tanko Lawan says suspected sect members also killed the leader of a neighborhood in Damaturu during a simultaneous attack.

Meanwhile, in the northern state of Jigawa, which is not under a state of emergency, police chiefHasimu Argungu said a girl was killed in the crossfire after suspected sect members attacked a police station.

Two ex-prime ministers and the head of Senegal's socialist partyon Wednesday were due to join a growing list of candidates in a divided opposition vying to oust veteran incumbent Abdoulaye Wade in February polls.

The three opponents were set to officially declare their candidacy two days after Senegalese music icon Youssou Ndour stirred up the presidential race by saying he would run for the seat.

Among the three is Ousmane Tanor Dieng of the Socialist Partywhich was in power between 1960 and 2000.

Moustapha Niasse of the Alliance of Forces of Progress (AFP) will also be running for president after a fallout with Dieng.

Jacques Kallis and Alviro Petersen hit centuries as South Africadominated the first day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Tuesday.

South Africa were 347 for three at the close after being sent in to bat.

Kallis, playing in his 150th Test match, was on 159 not out. He and Petersen (109) put on 205 for the third wicket, a record for South Africa against Sri Lanka.

It was a triumphant return to his home town for Kallis after making the first 'pair' of his career during South Africa's defeat in the second Test in Durban. He was in imperious form as he reached his half-century off 37 balls and his century off 114 deliveries with 17 fours.

His scoring rate slowed later in the day and by the close he had faced 215 balls and hit 21 fours and a six.

It was Kallis' 41st Test century, his ninth at Newlands - and his first against Sri Lanka. He joined Gary Kirsten, the current coach, as the only South Africans to hit centuries against all nine possible Test opponents.