Maiduguri - Gunmen in military uniform abducted five people in eastern Nigeria, tied their hands and shot them dead, police said on Saturday.

The attack overnight took place in Dananaca village, Taraba state, which is usually peaceful but which suffered a bombing at the hands of Islamist militants last week.

"The police are still investigating to ascertain if the people are real soldiers and from which unit," police spokesman for Taraba state Ibiam Mbaseki told Reuters by telephone.

"If they were genuine military men, they would have contacted us before carrying out such an operation, but we don't know where they came from."

Islamist sect Boko Haram, blamed for dozens of shootings and bombings since it launched an uprising in 2009, has sought to extend its reach too much of the north and the capital Abuja.

The group has become President Goodluck Jonathan's number one security headache.