Nigeria: Gunmen Kill Seven Police Officers In Southern Oil Hub

Gunmen have killed at least seven of the Nigerian police officers in a night of attacks in the southern oil hub of Rivers State, police said on the Saturday. The attackers opened fire on a checkpoint on the Friday evening, then drove on to hit two police stations, the statement said. Officers fired back, killing two of the raiders and injuring some of the others who escaped in a stolen car, police

added. The killings came amid deteriorating security in the Rivers State whose capital, Port Harcourt is also the gateway to the oil-rich Niger Delta region and the other parts of the Africa’s largest crude exporter. Last month, Rivers State banned people from crossing its borders at night in a bid to stop killings of police, customs officers, civil defence officers and soldiers. On Friday, the armed

men drove up in two 2 Toyota Hilux vans at 19:30 GMT and killed two officers at a checkpoint at Choba Bridge, police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said in a statement. The gunmen then killed two more officers and set fire to a patrol car at Rumuji police station, Omoni also added. Police fired back there and killed two of the attackers, he also said. The remaining assailants then hit Elimgbu

police station, killing three officers before fleeing under fire from police, the statement added. The men escaped with various degrees of gunshot wounds in a stolen car, Omoni said. The attackers stole five assault rifles, and the police had launched a manhunt, he added. Nigeria’s parliament last week called on the presidency, armed forces and police to address mounting insecurity, with

the lower house urging President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency. Since the December, bandits have kidnapped more than 700 people from the schools in the northwest, armed groups have killed the scores of soldiers and the civilians in the northeast and kidnapping and crime have increased nationwide.