Two Nigerian police officers were killed and three others left unconscious following an attack by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in the capital, Abuja, on Sunday, according to police reports.
“The proscribed organization attacked the police checkpoint unprovoked, wielding machetes, improvised explosive devices, and knives,” said police spokesperson Josephine Adeh in a statement.
The assailants also set police vans on fire during the attack, the statement added.
The IMN, a Shi’ite group, was banned in Nigeria in 2019 after violent protests demanding the release of its imprisoned leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The group has clashed with Nigerian authorities repeatedly, including a deadly incident in 2015 when the army killed over 300 members after an alleged assassination attempt on a former army chief. El-Zakzaky was imprisoned from 2015 until his release in 2021.