Gunmen shot dead four people in northeastern Nigeria, including a ruling party official, as they prepared to distribute election materials on Friday hours ahead of parliamentary elections, police said.
The attack happened at a police station in Shani in Borno state and the victims included the local government secretary of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, police officials said.
A radical Islamist sect has been blamed for months of targeted killings of police officers and traditional leaders in Borno state, but the violence has become increasingly political in the run-up to elections and many analysts believe the sect’s name is being used as a front for political thuggery.