KANO, Nigeria — Nigerian soldiers shot dead a suspected Islamist and wounded another in a northestern state where 16 people were killed last week in attacks on police stations and banks, an army spokesman said Friday.

Two motorcycle-riding gunmen ran into soldiers in the town of Song, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Yola, the Adamawa State capital and engaged them in a shootout, Lieutenant Colonel Idachaba Idu told AFP.

"One of the gunmen that were suspected of belonging to Boko Haram was killed in the shootout while the other was shot and captured," said Idu, spokesman for an army division in central city of Jos overseeing Adamawa state.

"An AK-47 riffle with 17 rounds of... ammunition and a motorcycle were recovered from the suspects," he said.

Boko Haram is an Islamist sect that was behind deadly attacks in the north including last Friday's bombing of the UN building in Abuja that left 23 dead, has claimed responsibility for series of banks robberies in the north.

Last week, gunmen attacked two police stations and banks in the town of Gombi, 100 kilometres north of Yola, killing 16 people including seven policemen and a soldier and carting away large sums of money and ammunitions.

In a conference call with journalists in Maiduguri, where Boko Haram has been most active, a spokesman claimed the sect was behind the attacks but authourities in the state maintained armed robbers were responsible.