Maiduguri, Nigeria -- Suspected gunmen from a radical Islamist sect killed two retired prison officers in northeast Nigeria, an official said Tuesday
The two men were killed Monday evening while preparing to pray in Maiduguri, where the sect known as Boko Haram once had its main mosque.
A security officer told The Associated Press one of the men was the father of a Boko Haram suspect arrested earlier this year on suspicion of being a spokesman for the sect. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release the information.
Meanwhile, a military spokesman said Tuesday that soldiers killed two suspected sect gunmen over the weekend. Witnesses say a shooting at a Maiduguri market Tuesday carried about by suspected sect gunmen left some people injured.
Boko Haram has been waging an increasingly violent campaign against Nigeria's weak central government. The sect is blamed for killing more than 360 people this year alone, according to an AP count.
