Gunmen kill councillor in Niger State

Gunmen on Thursday morning killed Sale Yakubu, a councillor in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The Niger State Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, Emmanuel Umar, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.

Mr Umar said the deceased and one other person were onboard a motorcycle when they were stopped by the terrorists who shot and killed the councillor immediately

The deceased person was asked to get down from the motorcycle and the terrorists opened fire on him. The other occupant of the motorcycle was spared.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the deceased was a former member of the vigilante group who might have been blacklisted by the terrorist groups in the area.

Parts of Shiroro Local Government Area are under the control of the ISWAP terror group. The Nigerian Air Force carries out occasional bombing raids to flush out terrorists in the area, but these raids have come under criticism as they often have civilian casualties.