Gunmen in Kano killed a policeman and abducted a Germany citizen on Monday as they travelled to a construction site, police said. The gunmen’s motive was unclear but kidnapping for ransom is common in parts of Nigeria.

Five gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying construction workers and opened fire on them along Sabon Titi Madobi road at around 7:45 a.m. (0645 GMT), a police spokesman said. The road is on the outskirts of the state’s capital city, also called Kano.

In another development, the  Police Command in Katsina State has arrested eight suspected kidnappers terrorising residents of the state.

The command’s spokesman,  DSP Gambo Isa, made this known in a statement in Katsina on Monday.

Isa said that the first four suspects Joshua Yohanna, 22; Musa Ibrahim, 25; Nafiu Umar, 32; and Kabir Lawal, 28; were arrested in Kafur Local Government Area of the state.

The spokesman said the suspects, through a phone call, threatened to kidnap and kill one Haruna Bello and Nuhu Yusuf of Gozaki town if they refused to pay a ransom of three million naira.

He said: “the victims have already sent N300,000 to them with a promise of sending the remaining amount later to avoid being kidnapped or killed.’’

Isa said the duo later reported to the police and the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad swung into action and arrested of the suspects.

“During investigation, police arrested the four suspects who confessed to have committed the act.

“The police recovered the sim card they used in sending threat messages to their victims,’’ he said.

The spokesman said that the suspects were the syndicate terrorising people of Kafur and Danja Local Government Areas of the state.

He further said that the police arrested four other suspected kidnappers – Mubarak Babangida, 21; Abubakar Lawal, 19; Aliyu Lawal, 22; and Nura Abdulhamid, 22.

Isa said the suspects were arrested in Katsina following a tip off, adding that the suspects were arrested with women dresses planning to kidnap a four-year-old boy.

The spokesman said that the suspects would be prosecuted after investigations.