gunmen

Dozens of students 'shot dead' in Nigeria

At least 25 people, mostly students, killed by unknown gunmen in northeastern town of Mubi, police officials say.

Dozens of college students have been killed by attackers in Nigeria's northeastern town of Mubi in Adamawa state, police say.

A senior police official told reporters that unknown gunmen went into campus hostels used by students at Federal Polytechnic Mubi, and killed at least 25 people.
Local officials confirmed that the attack had taken place. Yushau Shuaib, a National Emergency Management Agency spokesperson, said that "a number of people" had died.
Yushua Shuaib, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the attack to the Reuters news agency but had no details on casualties.
He said it was not clear whether the attack was the work of Boko Haram, a group blamed for previous deadly assaults, or the result of a dispute between rival political groups at the university.
Officials also pointed out that the school had recently held a students' election.
Shuaib said initial reports indicated one of the victims was a candidate in the poll.
Media reporting from the capital Abuja, said: "We have heard it could be some kind of student politics which has motivated the attacks, but we are also getting conflicting messages that some students had their names called before the gunmen."
The killings come days after a major operation against members of the Boko Haram in the town.
A recent raid on Mubi by the military had uncovered a large cache of weapons and ammunition, with many suspects rounded up.
Adamawa state, where Mubi is situated, has a mixed Muslim and Christian population and borders Borno state, where Boko Haram came to prominence in 2009, staging an uprising in the state capital, Maiduguri
Boko Haram has not yet commented on the Mubi attacks.
The group is fighting against Western influence in Africa's most populous nation and wants to form an Islamic state. Estimates put the number of those killed this year in attacks in northern and central Nigeria around 1,000.