Gunmen kill police chief, seven others in central Nigeria
The attack is the latest episode of violence before the February 25 presidential and parliamentary elections in Nigeria.
Gunmen in central Nigeria have killed eight people, including a divisional police chief, in the latest violence before the February 25 presidential and parliamentary elections, police and a security source said on Wednesday.
Insecurity is a big issue for voters in a country where armed gangs terrorise people in villages and on highways, and carry out kidnappings for ransom, especially in the north.
Police in Benue state responded to a distress call after gunmen blocked the Markurdi-Naka road, forcing travellers to flee, state police spokesperson Catherine Sewuese Anene said.
The divisional police officer for Naka town, Mamud Abubakar, led a team of officers that engaged the armed gang in a gunfight, Anene said in a statement.
“However, the DPO (divisional police officer) who led the team sustained gunshot injuries and was rushed to General Hospital Naka where he was eventually confirmed dead,” she said.
A police source said two other police officers were shot and killed during the fight with the armed gang.
When the gunmen retreated, they killed two children and three women in a nearby village, said the source, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
-al jazeera
