Eight police officers killed by armed men during election in Nigeria

Othe police were killed today by armed men, while they were mobilized to ensure the security of a primary for the Senate in the state of Zamfara, in northwest Nigeria, advanced a local authority and a resident.

The ambush took place near the village of Gidan Kano, on a road linking the states of Zamfara and Sokoto.

Ibrahim Umar, a resident of the area, told the agency France-Presse (AFP) that “the criminals opened fire on the bus where they followed the police, killing eight of them and taking the rest into the woods.”.

Maradun local council secretary Adamu Kantu Gora confirmed to AFP the balance of eight dead and added that five police officers were also kidnapped, and three others were injured and were hospitalized.

Zamfara State Police spokesman Yazid Abubakar reported that the agents had been sent from the neighboring state of Sokoto to ensure the security of the vote.

The election was aimed at choosing the Senate candidate by Congress of All Progressives (APC), the party of President Bola Tinubu, in the district of Zamfara-North.

The suffrage was carried out again after the annulment of the previous vote by the court due to irregularities.

The attack takes place at a time when Nigeria is preparing for the general elections scheduled for January in a scenario of aggravating violence by armed groups in the north-west and center of the country.

Armed groups have intensified attacks on villages, kidnappings for extortion and undue charges in rural areas, where the presence of the state is limited.

In addition to these violence, the country faces the ‘jihadist’ insurgency of Boko Haram, deadly conflicts between farmers and livestock farmers, as well as separatist tensions in the southeast.