LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Armed robbers shot and hacked to death a French tourist camping with his wife in the bush of southeast Nigeria, police said Thursday.
A band of men surprised the couple as they were sleeping to spend the night in their vehicle about two kilometers (about a mile) from the main road and shot 62-year-old Denis Dagnan in the leg before killing him with machete blows, said Ebonyi state police commissioner Maigari Dikko.
The victim’s wife, Lavaud Liana Dagnan, 53, was unharmed, he said, adding that the couple came from Villedieu-sur-Indre in central France.
She told police the robbers got away with 1,150 euros ($1,300) and 13,000 Nigerian naira ($61).
After spending the day driving, the couple camped off road Monday night in their vehicle near a quarry. They were attacked at about 8 p.m. that night.
The couple had been on a cross-country African tour, Dikko said.
The French Embassy had been informed and police have made 32 random arrests based on information from the community, he added.
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This story has been corrected to remove an erroneous reference to the victim being from Lyon.