Nigeria Arrests Eight 'Islamist' Gunmen over Police Killings

Police in northern Nigeria said Wednesday they have arrested eight suspected Islamist militants over the killing of two police officers who were shot while guarding medical personnel.

The officers were killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen on Tuesday while escorting a group going door-to-door around the city of Kano conducting polio vaccinations, police spokesman Magaji Majia said.

Kano, Nigeria's second largest city, has repeatedly been targeted by Boko Haram Islamists, including several attacks on the security services, and Majia said the insurgents could be behind the latest violence.

"We have arrested eight suspected Boko Haram members in connection with the killing of two of our men in Kofar Dawanau (in Kano) on Tuesday," Majia said.

"We also recovered three AK-47 rifles from the suspects. Two of the rifles belonged to the policemen taken away after the killing while the third was the one used in the attack," he added.

Boko Haram is blamed for killing more than 1,400 people in northern and central Nigeria since 2010.

The group's deadliest ever attack came in Kano in January, when at least 185 people were killed in a series of gun and bomb attacks.