Gunmen kill five policemen travelling from Sokoto to Zamfara for special duty

Five police officers have been killed after suspected bandits ambushed them on the road from Sokoto to Gusau, the Zamfara State capital.

The officers, attached to the police Zone 10 command in Sokoto, were heading to Zamfara on a special assignment. They were travelling in a bus belonging to the Zamfara State Mass Transit Service rather than a marked police vehicle, and were part of a three-vehicle group when the gunmen targeted the last vehicle.

The zone's spokesman, DSP Abdullahi Faruk, confirmed the attack on Monday. He said the bodies had been taken to the mortuary at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto and that an investigation had begun.

Some reports claimed other officers were abducted during the attack, but the police have not confirmed this.

A relative of one of the dead officers has called for a full investigation, suggesting the attackers may have known about the trip in advance. Zamfara and neighbouring states have suffered repeated attacks by armed gangs on highways and rural communities.