Suspected members of the militant group Boko Haram have attacked a boarding school in Nigeria overnight, killing dozens of students.

Nigerian police said the attackers stormed the Federal Government college of Buni Yadi in Yobe state at 2:00 am local time (0100 GMT) on Tuesday, killing at least 43 students - all of them boys - as they were asleep.

The militants hurled explosives into residential buildings, sprayed gunfire into rooms and hacked a number of students to death, authorities added.

Many of the students lost their lives while the school was being burned down to the ground.

The death toll is expected to rise as soldiers are gathering more bodies, a military spokesman said.

“So far, 43 bodies have been brought (from the college) and are lying at the morgue,” an unidentified source said, referring to a crowd of victims’ relatives who had gathered at the morgue.

The assault has been blamed on the militant group, Boko Haram.

The incident resembled a similar attack when Boko Haram militants stormed an agriculture training college in Yobe last September and killed 40 students.

In May 2013, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the three northeastern states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. UN figures suggest more than 1,200 people have been killed in the violence since the state of emergency was imposed.

Boko Haram -- whose name means “Western education is forbidden” -- says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.