Gunmen kill senior customs officer in northern Nigeria

A file photo showing the aftermath of an attack by members of the Boko Haram on a police headquarters in Nigeria’s Yobe State
Wed Mar 7, 2012 5:42AM
PressTv- Unknown assailants have shot and killed a senior customs officer in Nigeria’s northern state of Yobe, police sources say.

State police commissioner Lawan Tanko said Adamu Amadu, Comptroller of Nigeria Customs Service for Yobe and Borno states, was killed late Tuesday when gunmen stormed his house in the Garin Daji district of Potiskum, a major city in Yobe.

“I have received the report of the killing of the comptroller of customs for Borno and Yobe states in his personal home in Potiskum this evening,” Tanko said.

Tanko said that Amadu’s bodyguard was also killed in the incident.

He said the attackers fled the scene immediately but police have launched an investigation to track down the culprits. He refused to say who might have carried out the killing.

The Borno and Yobe states have witnessed a series of deadly gun and bomb attacks in the past several months.

Nigerian authorities have blamed the militant group Boko Haram for most of the attacks.

The extremist group mostly targets the police and other symbols of authority in Africa’s most populous nation.

Human rights groups report that violence by the sect since mid-2009 has claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year alone.

MN/MB