Thirteen police officers were killed in an ambush by cattle thieves in Zamfara state in northwestern Nigeria, local police said on Sunday evening.
Local police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said the patrol was attacked in Kurara Mota village, Bungudu district, where they had gone to “respond to a distress call” from residents about an attack. imminent wrongdoers. “Unfortunately, thirteen police officers lost their lives,” he added. Police have launched a search to try to locate the “bandits“, as kidnappers and cattle thieves are known in this region, in nearby forest areas where they are hiding, the police officer added.
According to residents, the “bandits” first attempted to attack the nearby village of Magami but were repulsed by law enforcement stationed in the town. “The bandits then attacked a nearby village, where they killed one person and looted a few shops before going to Kurara Mota where they attacked the police,” said resident Bature Dan-Malam.
It is the latest in a series of attacks in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. Northwestern Nigeria has been the scene for several years of the activities of criminal gangs who attack, loot and kidnap villagers, stealing their livestock and burning their homes.
