At least 7 Nigerian security officers missing after insurgents stage brutal ambush on convoy

THE HILL

At least seven members of a Nigerian government protection agency are missing after their convoy was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents in north-central Nigeria, authorities said.

A team of 80 security operatives tasked with protecting the power network were ambushed Monday in Shiroro, Niger state, by about 200 Boko Haram fighters during a patrol mission, Babawale Afolabi, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said late Tuesday. At least 50 insurgents were killed, Afolabi added.

Boko Haram is among armed groups known to sabotage power supplies in Nigeria. Last month, the northern part of the country was without power for more than seven days after insurgents damaged equipment, the state-owned Transmission Company of Nigeria said.

Although Boko Haram mainly operates in the northeast, the government says the group has cells in the largely Muslim Niger state, where its fighters ambushed the convoy and where they have previously carried attacks against the military and civilians.

The Nigerian insurgent group took up arms in 2009 to fight against Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law, or Sharia. The conflict, which is now Africa’s longest struggle with militancy, has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.

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