20120229
AFP
Gunmen killed three policemen when they hurled explosives and opened fire on a police station in restive northern Nigeria, the latest attack blamed on an Islamist group, residents said Tuesday.

The attack, which occurred late Monday in Jama'are, a traditional emirate and town in Bauchi state, set the police building ablaze, they said.

Resident Muktar Dan-Abba told AFP by telephone that he saw bodies of two policemen being taken away. A third corpse was discovered under the rubble of the burnt out station.

"The police station has been burnt and two policemen were killed," he said.

Another resident, Usman Musa, said the police station caught fire after several explosions which also brought down its roof and burned a nearby bank.

"A bank was also burnt and its vault emptied," he added.

Members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram, which has been blamed for a wave of attacks mainly in northern Nigeria, are thought to rob banks to fund their activities.

There was no immediate official confirmation of Monday's attacks which followed a similar assault in another northern town on Sunday in which three police corporals were killed.

The police and other symbols of authority in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer have frequently been the target of Boko Haram attacks.

Although its specific aims remain largely unclear, violence by the sect has since mid-2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including over 300 this year alone, according to a tally by AFP and activists.