Boko Haram militants kill villagers in northeast Nigeria

At least 10 people were killed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state, police said, the latest attack in a region where security forces are battling a long-running insurgency.

Yobe state police spokesperson Dungus Abdulkarim said on Saturday the latest incident occurred in Buni Gari Gujba local government area on Friday, when a group of villagers were ambushed by Boko Haram militants while searching for a missing villager.

"Ten bodies were recovered in all. The security operatives have been despatched to the area now to face the insurgents who from time to time frequent that particular area," Abdulkarim told Reuters by phone.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which erupted in northeast Nigeria in 2009, has killed more than 350,000 people and forced at least two million to flee their homes, international aid groups say. 

Boko Haram is an affiliate of Deash claiming responsibility for several attacks in the west African country. 

READ MORE: Over a dozen herders killed by Boko Haram in Nigeria's restive Borno state

Train station attack

Earlier this year gunmen attacked a train station in southern Nigeria, kidnapping around 30 people and wounding others, police and officials said, nearly a year after a bomb assault on a train travelling from the capital.

Police said in a statement last January that the gunmen opened fire before abducting passengers who were waiting for a train in Edo state.

Edo is 360 kilometres (223 miles) east of the major city of Lagos.

Edo State Information Commissioner Chris Nehikhare told AFP news agency that 32 people had been abducted.

Kidnapping for ransom is a major problem in Nigeria where gunmen have repeatedly attacked and abducted people in large groups, but mostly in the northwestern and central states.

READ MORE: Gunmen abduct dozens of passengers in train station attack in Nigeria