Gunmen kill seven Nigerian police officers in oil state attacks

By Tife Owolabi
YENAGOA, Nigeria May 8 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed seven
Nigerian police officers in a night of attacks in the southern
oil hub of Rivers state, police said on Saturday.
The attackers opened fire at a checkpoint on Friday evening,
then drove on to hit two police stations, the statement said.
Officers fired back, killing two of the raiders and injuring
some of the others who escaped in stolen car, police added.
The killings came amid deteriorating security in Rivers
state - whose capital, Port Harcourt, is the gateway to the
oil-rich Delta region - and other parts of Africa's largest
crude exporter. Last month, Rivers State banned people crossing its borders
at night in a bid to stop killings of police, customs, civil
defence officers and army soldiers.
On Friday, the armed men drove up in two Toyota Hilux vans
at 1930 GMT and killed two officers at a checkpoint at Choba
Bridge, police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said in a statement.
The gunmen then killed two more officers and set fire to a
patrol car at Rumuji police station, Omoni added. Police fired
back there and killed two of the attackers, he said.
The remaining assailants then hit Elimgbu police station,
killing three officers before fleeing under fire from police,
the statement added. The men escaped "with various degrees of
gunshot wounds" in a stolen car, Omoni said.
The attackers stole five assault rifles, and police had
launched a manhunt, he added.
Nigeria's parliament last week called on the presidency,
armed forces and police to address mounting insecurity, with the
lower house urging President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state
of emergency. Since December, bandits have kidnapped more than 700 people
from schools in the northwest, Islamist militants have killed
scores of soldiers and civilians in the northeast and kidnapping
and crime have increased nationwide.