Bandits have killed SP Kazeem Raheem, a Divisional Police Officer in Maru town, headquarters of Maru local government area of Zamfara state.
Raheem was killed alongside a yet to be identified police sergeant and a vigilante.
A resident, who craved for anonymity, said that the criminals had invaded the town to Kidnap a businessman identified as Alhaji Iliyasu.
The armed men had earlier abducted his brother who was reportedly freed after ransom was paid. They came again to kidnap him but he managed to escape, while they took his wife.
The DPO mobilized his men to foil the attempt by the criminals to kidnap the businessman but lost his life in the gunfight.
“It was a terrible experience. I woke up at the sound of heavy gunfire around 2am. Maru town has been under constant attack by these criminals, several people were kidnapped in the past one year.
The spokesman of the state police command, SP Muhammad Shehu, could not be reached for comment as his phone lines were switched off at the time of filing this report.
Bandits have continued to make life unbearable for residents of North West despite repeated assurances to bring the situation under control.