LAGOS— At least seven gunmen were killed in a shootout with Nigerian police in the central state of Niger on Thursday, police said.

“We received intelligent reports on a planned attack by the bandits on Kumbashi village and mobilized our personnel for prompt security action,” local police chief Ogundele Ayodeji told reporters in Minna, the state capital.

He said police tactical teams and local hunters engaged the bandits in a shootout near the village, and some of the gunmen escaped with gunshot wounds.

Ayodeji said two hunters were injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Armed attacks have been a primary security threat in parts of Nigeria, resulting in deaths and kidnappings.

Separately, an unidentified Nigerian soldier shot and killed a soldier and an aid worker in a military base in northeastern state of Borno Thursday, and also injured a helicopter co-pilot from the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, said Samson Nantip Zhakom, a spokesperson for the army.

Troops on the ground immediately killed the “errant” soldier, and the injured co-pilot is receiving treatment at a military health facility in Borno.

It was not immediately clear what provoked the attack. Zhakom said investigations were under way.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK