Fighting linked to next year's elections in Nigeria has killed at least nine people in two southern states.
Gangs sponsored by two rival politicians from the town of Bodo in oil-producing Rivers state have been attacking each other with AK-47 rifles, machetes, axes and broken bottles over the past few days, a local community leader told Reuters.
"These are factional clashes between two cult groups who have the blessing of two Bodo politicians who have ambitions for 2007," said the leader. In Nigeria, the word cult means gang.
"Seven of them have been murdered. The residents are hiding in their houses in terror," he added.
In the town of Nnewi in southeastern Anambra state, two policemen were killed in a raid on their station by dozens of attackers in military camouflage gear and bullet-proof vests, armed with automatic weapons, a civil society activist said.
"This is part of the activities of the political cabal in Anambra that does not believe in seeking the popular vote but uses criminals to intimidate the people," said Emeka Umeagbalasi, head of the local Civil Liberties Organization.
The attackers set the police station on fire, released prisoners from its cells, burned several vehicles and stole others, he said.
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous military dictatorship. The 2007 polls should mark the first time one elected government hands over to another through the ballot box.