ABUJA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Police countered an ambush and killed 12 suspected bandits Wednesday in north-central Nigeria, authorities said Thursday.
One police officer was killed in the exchange of gunfire with the suspects in Benue state, said Sewuese Anene, the state's police spokesperson.
The suspected bandits had been terrorizing the state's Buruku local government area, Anene said in a statement.
Police had been on the trail of the suspects, having noticed a regrouping of criminal gangs since early March. Officers were on their way to repel an attack Wednesday when they ran into an ambush laid by the suspects, according to the statement. ■
