Nigeria ? Attackers blew up the country home of Nigeria’s vice president-elect with dynamite Wednesday, authorities said, as violence escalated in the country’s oil-rich south before a government handover this month.

Militant groups making an array of demands, including a greater share of government oil revenues, have carried out bombings, kidnappings and protests since 2005 that have already shut down a third of production in Africa’s oil giant.

Meanwhile, gunmen abducted a Nigerian toddler at an affluent suburb of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the latest kidnapping to hit the troubled region.

Two policemen were killed in the early morning attack on Vice President-elect Goodluck Jonathan’s house and a nearby police station, officials said. It was the fourth fatal attack on police in the Niger Delta in a month.

Analysts believe armed groups are stepping up attacks to demonstrate their relevance ahead of the May 29 installation of a new central government after disputed elections.