Nigerian diplomat slaughtered in his home in Sudan, suspects nabbed

A Nigerian diplomat, later identified as the Immigration Attache, Mr. Habibu Almu, was found dead in his home in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday, two security sources said, in an apparent murder that police said did not appear to be politically motivated.

Police spokesman Omar al-Mokhtar said the deceased, who had been working in the immigration section of the Nigerian Embassy, was stabbed to death and police had ruled out the possibility it was a terrorist attack.

Mokhtar said police had arrested several suspects, but provided no further details.

Officials from the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum were not available to comment.

Dubai-based al-Arabiya television had earlier described the diplomat’s death as an “assassination”.

Al-Arabiya channel identified the diplomat as the consul general and described his death as an “assassination”. Reports on social media suggested the killers used a knife in the attack.

However, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tope Adeleye Elias-Fatile, has confirmed the report. He said the Ministry had received the sad news of the untimely death of the Immigration attache at the Mission in Khartoum.

“The Ministry has received the sad news of the untimely death of the Immigration Attache in our Mission in Khartoum, Sudan.

“We are awaiting further detailed report from the Mission after which a statement would be issued,” Elias-Fatile said.

Though intermittent violence is common in Sudan’s ethnically torn southern and western regions, violence in the capital is rare.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has recently shaken up the security establishment, replacing the heads of the army and intelligence service in February.