Suspected gunmen from the Islamic sect Boko Haram on Wednesday night killed six persons at Shehuri, north of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state which is regarded as the spiritual base of the sect, the local Leadership newspaper reported Thursday.
The paper quoted Lt.-Col Hassan Mohammed, the spokesman for the military Joint Task Force (JTF), deployed to check the activities of the sect, as confirming the killings.
The spokesman said investigations by the JTF indicated that the victims may have been killed by members of the sect.
Boko Haram has been active in Borno state in recent days, killing six persons between Monday and Tuesday in separate gun attacks across the state.
Borno is one of the five states in the predominantly-Muslim north in which President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency on 31 December, following the Christmas day bombing that left over 40 dead in Madalla, near the capital city of Abuja.
The latest killings came a day after the State Security Service (SSS) said it had arrested a man suspected to be the spokesman of the sect, Abul Qaga.