How Unknown Gunmen Killed Regional Police Chief In Nigeria

Gunmen have shot dead a senior police officer who was visiting his home state of Enugu in southeast Nigeria, but the motive and identity of the suspects remained unclear, police said Monday.

Chinwike Asadu, the police commissioner of Kwara state in central Nigeria, was killed on Saturday night by gunmen in a bus who trailed his car and shot him as his driver was entering his compound, Enugu state police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu told Agence France Presse.

Asadu "was killed around 10:00 pm on Saturday by some men who trailed him to his house. His driver and orderly were also shot, but they were lucky to survive the attack," he said.

He said police have launched an investigation into the incident, adding that it was premature to determine the motive of the killing.

The slain police officer was head of the mobile police unit in Kwara before his appointment last month as the state police boss.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with some 160 million people, sees regular violence linked to criminal gangs. There was no sign that the killing was related to a deadly Islamist insurgency in northern and central Nigeria.

Each of Nigeria's 36 states has a police commissioner.