Thirty-three year old Helon Habila from Nigeria has won this year's Caine Prize for African writing, for his short story "Love Poems".

The story, set during military rule in Nigeria, is about a poet detained in jail, whose poetry is falsely claimed by the jailer as his own.

The chair of the judging panel, Professor Dan Jacobson, said: "His story impressed the judges, especially by its qualities of intensity and alertness to some of the most sinister aspects of Nigerian life under military rule."

The announcement was made during a dinner in Oxford on Monday evening.

Competition

The winning story faced strong competition from 120 writers from almost 30 African countries.

The other short-listed authors included Mia Couto from Mozambique and Nuruddin Farah from Somalia.

This is the second year the prize of $15,000 has been awarded.

It is open to writers from anywhere in Africa for a short story published in English.

The prize is named in celebration of the late Sir Michael Caine, former chairman of Booker plc, who have close links with Africa.

The aim is to bring African writing to the attention of a wider audience.

Mr Habila, who was born in Gombe state, is the arts editor of the Vanguard newspaper in Lagos.