The Police in Borno State say they have arrested 19 people over the killing of Alhaji Modu Fannami Gubio, the All Nigeria Peoples Party Governorship [ANPP] candidate in the state, the governorship candidate who was shot along with the brother of Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, Alhaji Goni Modu Sheriff on Friday.

The Borno State commissioner of police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar says the suspects were found in Maiduguri the Borno state capital.

Mr Abubakar adds that the police are continuing to seek members of the banned Boko Haram sect, and that one police officer was killed in the search on Sunday.

The sect has attacked churches and engineered a massive prison break in recent months.

Meanwhile, gunmen have attacked a police checkpoint in Borno state on Sunday, killing a policeman and leading police to shoot dead two of the gunmen, according to the state's police command.

Borno state Police Commissioner, Mohammed Abubakar said the gunmen attacked on Sunday morning, adding that the police believes the attackers are members of a radical sect.

Mr Abubakar says that the attack has prompted the police to staff each of the city's more than 25 checkpoints with at least 10 policemen.

Suspected boko haram members have used motorcycle-riding gunmen to attack soldiers and police manning checkpoints throughout Borno state, as well as those who publicly oppose the group. But much remains murky about boko haram's intentions, and whether all the killings in Maiduguri are due to the group's re-emergence.