"Suspected Islamic sect
members attacked the drinking
joint and killed eight people,
four of whom were policemen,"
Yobe state police commissioner
Tanko Lawal told Reuters news
agency.
Reports said the gunmen fled
on a motorcycle after the late-
night attack in the town of
Potiskum. A seven-year-old child
was also among the victims,
police said.
Southerners, who are mostly
Christians or animists, have
recently been the targets of
attacks by Boko Haram, which
operates in the mainly Muslim
north.
Yobe is one of the states where
the government has declared a
state of emergency following an
upsurge in violence by the
Islamist group.
The shooting followed an attack
on a mosque and an Islamic
school in the southern city of
Benin.
Five people were killed and six
injured, a Nigerian Red Cross
spokesman told the BBC.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon discussed
the increasing sectarian violence
with Nigeria's Foreign Minister
Olugbenga Ashiru on Tuesday.
The meeting followed the
release of a UN report that
highlighted "growing concern
in the region" about possible
links between Boko Haram and
al-Qaeda's affiliate in North
Africa, al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (Aqim).
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