Suspected armed bandits have killed a police officer and kidnapped six others at a goldmine in Sunke village of Anka local government area of Zamfara state, Daily Trust gathered.

Armed bandits have been launching series of deadly assaults on Zamfara goldmines.

In November 2016, 42 people were killed in an attack on a mining site in Bindin village of Maru local government area of the state.

The executive chairman of the local government, Alhaji Mustapha Gado told Daily Trust in a telephone chat that armed men had invaded the mining site, killed one of the officers and abducted six others.

He said the officers were deployed to provide protection to the site adding that even though the six abducted police men were released later, their rifles were seized by the gunmen.

“The Divisional Police Officer of the local government had told me that the officers were released but their rifles were held by the armed bandits,” he said.

Alhaji Gado further said they had earlier ordered for the closure of all the goldmines, but the foreign expatriates can still be found because their machineries were stationed at the sites.

“We consulted with the relevant authorities on the need to close down the sites and we got the approval.

“We served them with quit notice and those operating the sites sourced for security operatives to man the sites for them,” he added.

The spokesman of the state police command, SP Muhammad Shehu, could not be reached for comment as at the time of filing this report.

•Sourced from a Daily Trust report