ABUJA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- An investigation has been launched into the killing of 12 members of a para-military agency by unknown gunmen who attacked a mining site in the country's northern state of Kaduna, an official said Tuesday.
The victims were members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) who provide security guard service at the Kuriga mining site in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna when the gunmen attacked the place Monday, said Olusola Odumosu, an NSCDC spokesman at a press briefing in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
One NSCDC personnel escaped with injuries when the gunmen laid an ambush on the NSCDC members at the mining site, said Odumosu, adding the gunmen also took away the rifles of the victims.
The remains of the deceased were deposited at a mortuary while the injured security personnel is responding to treatment at a local hospital, he said. The motive of the attackers was unknown.
NSCDC is a para-military agency of the Nigerian government, commissioned to provide measures against threats and any form of attack or disaster against the nation and its citizenry, according to an introduction of the agency's website. ■