Nigerian police: radical sect kills officer

Maiduguri, Nigeria - Police say gunmen have shot a policeman dead, the latest in a rash of killings targeting security officers in Nigeria's northeast.

The Borno State police chief said Tuesday the policeman on patrol was killed in a drive-by shooting Monday evening near St. Mary Catholic Church in the city of Maiduguri.

Mohammed Abubakar accuses a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram for the killing.

Boko Haram members have targeted police and clerics in a string of killings over the last year. They have also attacked churches and engineered a massive prison break.

Boko Haram, whose name in Hausa means "Western education is sacrilege," has campaigned for the implementation of strict Shariah law.