Attackers killed at least eight security personnel in an ambush on a police convoy in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state on Tuesday, local vigilante officials told Reuters, in a region where kidnappings and attacks are common.
The dead included five police officers and three members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard (CPG), a state-backed vigilante outfit supporting security operations, said vigilante commandant Lawal Haruna
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Abubakar Isa, a member of the CPG, said the attackers struck near Gidan-Giye village in Tsafe Local Government Area
Isa said the attackers fired on a 15-seater bus carrying the security team, destroying the vehicle
Police later recovered the bodies of five officers, rescued seven others and evacuated two wounded officers for treatment, according to a police statement
Police said the attackers seized five AK-47 rifles. A police officer told Reuters the attackers abducted some officers, though authorities have yet to confirm how many remain missing
A separate police officer told Reuters that the bandits abducted some officers and took them to an undisclosed location