Gunmen kill two police guards attached to government official in central Nigerian state of Niger

Gunmen have killed two police guards attached to a government official in the central Nigerian state of Niger, a police spokesman told AFP Saturday.

Two motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire on the two policemen guarding the home of the local government chairman of Suleija on Friday, said Niger state police spokesman Richard Oguche. "The attackers arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on the two policemen outside the house, killing them on the spot and taking away a rifle of one of the policemen before fleeing," Oguche said.

Oguche refused to link the attack to the sect known as Boko Haram. "For now, we can't point an accusing finger at anybody or any group for the attack, which we don't think is politically motivated," Oguche said by telephone from the state capital Minna.

Suleija, a city near the federal capital Abuja, was rocked by two politically motivated bomb blasts in the months ahead of general elections in April. Several people were killed in the blasts.