Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan and his embattled ruling party have wrested a key state from the opposition ahead of general polls next year, results showed Sunday.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Peter Ayodele Fayose was elected governor in southwestern Ekiti state, beating the incumbent John Kayode Fayemi by a two-to-one margin, the electoral commission said.

Nigeria has trained 167,000 police officers to manage an election next year in which President Goodluck Jonathan is widely expected to seek another term, an official said on Saturday.

In an effort to ensure a fair and peaceful vote in a country with a chequered electoral past, authorities have been trained "on various aspects of policing elections," national police spokesman Frank Mba told Agence France Presse.

At least 10 people were killed Saturday in raids by suspected Boko Haram gunmen on two villages near the town of Chibok where Islamists abducted more than 200 girls in April, residents and local leaders said.

Military fighter jets dropped bombs on the insurgents, halting the attacks after nine hours, said Enoch Mark, a Christian priest in Chibok, some 11 kilometers (six miles) from the attacked villages.

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have killed 10 people in raids on five villages in Nigeria's northeast Adamawa state, a local official said on Friday.

"We have confirmed that 10 people were killed in the attacks on the five villages by Boko Haram insurgents yesterday (Thursday). Many people sustained injuries while trying to escape," said Maina Ularamu, Madagali local government council chairman.

Police in Nigeria on Thursday threw a security cordon around southwestern Ekiti state, restricting movement and deploying riot squads to curb election-linked violence.

A vote takes place on Saturday to elect a new governor, with incumbent John Kayode Fayemi, of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), looking for re-election.

Marine police in Nigeria were on Thursday scouring a river in the central eastern state of Taraba after a boat believed to be carrying more than 100 women and children capsized.

The vessel overturned on Tuesday near the Muslim village of Dampar as it transported people fleeing sectarian violence that left at least 12 dead and saw homes razed, residents said.

Nigeria's top military officer on Wednesday dismissed talk of a possible coup in Africa's most populous nation, which is currently in the grip of a raging Islamist insurgency and unrest.

"Why should anyone be thinking in negative fashion? Tell them we will not do it. Those rumoring coups must be living elsewhere and not in Nigeria," said Chief of Defense Staff Alex Badeh.

Boko Haram militants were on Wednesday suspected of carrying out a deadly bomb attack against football fans watching the World Cup in northern Nigeria, in the latest violence targeting the game.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in the Nayi-Nama area of Damaturu on Tuesday night but the Islamists have previously carried out attacks on informal, big screen venues.

Nigerian vigilantes said on Tuesday they had killed eight suspected Boko Haram militants who attacked a village near Chibok, where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in April.

Adamsi Tar told AFP the suspected militants had attacked a village about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Chibok in volatile northeastern Nigeria, burning several homes and looting food.

At least 15 people were killed when suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed a market in northern Nigeria late on Sunday, witnesses and a security source said.

Villagers in the farming community of Daku, in Borno state, described how they were surrounded by at least 20 gunmen who fired indiscriminately and threw petrol bombs, engulfing the market in flames.