Humanitarian worker, Police inspector killed as bandits attack Sokoto communities
A humanitarian worker, Ms Lydia Chinenye Nwankwo, and a police inspector have been killed following a deadly attack by suspected bandits on communities in the Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State. Nwankwo, a…
Sokoto State, in Nigeria's North-west, has in recent years become part of the wider corridor of banditry stretching across Zamfara, Katsina and Niger states, where armed groups operate from forest enclaves and carry out kidnappings, cattle rustling, and ambushes on travellers along rural highways. Shagari Local Government Area, where this attack occurred, lies along routes frequently used by aid convoys and commuters, making it a recurring flashpoint despite a sustained military and police presence deployed to curb the violence in the state.
The killing of an aid worker underscores the risks faced by humanitarian organisations operating in Nigeria's insecurity-prone northern states, where NGOs provide relief to communities displaced by banditry and conflict. Tribune Online and Daily Trust both confirm a fatal attack on a vehicle linked to humanitarian operations, with Tribune naming the deceased aid worker and reporting that a police inspector was also killed, while Daily Trust gives additional detail on the location — the Kajiji-Shagari road — and reports two others injured. Neither account yet identifies the attackers beyond describing them as suspected bandits, and details on casualties among the attackers, arrests, or security response are still emerging.