Five police officers on routine patrol were killed Saturday night after suspected herders ambushed their team in Papa Ward, Darazo Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The Bauchi State Police Command confirmed the incident on Sunday, with spokesman Ahmed Wakili describing it as a deadly exchange of gunfire that left two other officers injured.
“It’s confirmed that our officers and men on routine patrol in Papa Ward were ambushed by some herders,” Wakili told Channels Television by phone.
“There were casualties during the exchange of fire. Some of our officers paid the supreme price.”
He added that the attackers also suffered casualties in the confrontation.
The officers killed in the ambush were identified as:Ahmad Muhammad, Mustapha Muhammad, Inspector Amarhel Yunusa, Inspector Idris Ahmed
and Corporal Isah Muazu
The injured personnel Inspector Isah Musa and Inspector Yusuf Gambo are attached to the State Investigation Department.
Wakili said the Commissioner of Police had visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment, with more details expected as investigations progress.
In a separate incident around midnight, suspected bandits attacked Saya village in Zalau Ward, Toro Local Government Area, killing 55-year-old Alhaji Muhammadu Bakoshi, an official of the Islamic organisation JIBWIS.
A relative, Arfashada Ahmed, said the attackers arrived on foot in large numbers and headed straight to Bakoshi’s home.
“They went directly to the rooms where his wives were.
”They met him in one of the rooms and shot him twice in the head and the chest,” he said.
Bakoshi’s wife, 45-year-old Hannatu Bakoshi, and his 13-year-old daughter, Umaimah Bakoshi, were kidnapped.
Wakili also confirmed another abduction in the same ward: 20-year-old Mubarak Dayyabu was taken during a subsequent raid in a nearby village.
Following the coordinated attacks, the Commissioner of Police has ordered the Divisional Police Officer, the Area Commander of Toro, vigilantes, hunters, and all available local security outfits to comb surrounding forests for the suspects and to rescue the abducted victims.
The security incidents come amid heightened concerns over banditry and targeted attacks across northern states, further stretching police resources already under pressure from widespread insecurity.
