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| - Police in southern Nigeria have launched an investigation into a wave of deadly attacks on their officers, a spokesman said Tuesday. At least eight police officers have been killed in the in the southeast states of Akwa Ibom and neighbouring Cross Rivers since January, the force said. In the latest incident on Monday, a police inspector was burnt to death in his house at Ikot Afang in Akwa Ibom, state police spokesman Odiko MacDon told AFP. "We are yet to establish the remote and immediate causes of the attacks, but we will establish that when investigations are concluded," he said. Officers were on the trail of "the hoodlums," he added. "The culprits will be apprehended." Local residents confirmed the attack. "We woke up this morning to see the charred remains of the inspector buried in the rubbles of his house completely razed by hoodlums," said resident Idaraobong Akpan. Another resident, Ufor Imor, said the inspector had been targeted because of his "role as a prosecutor in the detention and conviction of criminals in the locality." Last month, a policeman was killed when his patrol van was attacked at a checkpoint in the area, police said. In neighbouring Cross Rivers state between January and March at least six security operatives have been murdered, the force added. str-joa/jj
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