Four Dead in Attack on Police Station in North Nigeria

Heavily armed gunmen killed four people in an attack Thursday that burnt a police station and a government building in a northeastern Nigerian town, police said.

The gunmen attacked the police station in the town of Song near the border with Cameroon and engaged soldiers and police officers in a shootout, police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP.

"A policemen, a soldier and two civilians were killed in the attack on the divisional police station in Song around 1:00 am today by unknown gunmen," Ibrahim said.

"The gunmen used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the attack in which the police station and nearby local government secretariat were burnt."

Two civilians were wounded in the attack, he added. The attackers fled, but police and military teams deployed in the area were in search of the gunmen, according to Ibrahim.

Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has carried out deadly attacks in Adamawa state, where Song is located, although armed robbers also commit crimes under the guise of the group.

Border towns in Adamawa state have previously been hit by robbery gangs.

On December 28, unknown gunmen launched bomb and gun attacks in the town of Maiha, also near the border, killing a policeman and a resident.

A police station, a prison, a courthouse, an education administrative building and a government lodge were burnt in the attack.

Violence linked to Boko Haram's insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has left some 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.