Gunmen linked to a radical Muslim sect in Nigeria are being blamed for two recent attacks that have left several people dead.

Authorities say suspected sect members early Sunday struck police stations and banks in the northern Bauchi state, killing at least three people. Two more deaths were reported on Saturday when a wedding ceremony was attacked in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

The Boko Haram sect began its violent campaign to spread strict Islamic shariah law across Nigeria's northern sector about two years ago. Since then it has killed scores, bombing police stations and robbing banks almost at will.

One of its most violent attacks occurred in August when at least two dozen people were killed in an assault on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria's capital.