Gunmen on motorcycles and motorised tricycles attacked two health centres in Kano where polio immunisation workers had gathered to prepare for a vaccination campaign. In the first attack, at the Hotoro district health centre, gunmen opened fire on the workers, killing at least seven. The victims were all female polio vaccinators. The attackers fled the scenes and no group immediately claimed responsibility, though suspicion fell on Boko Haram, which has consistently opposed Western medicine and polio vaccination campaigns.
8 Feb 2013 · Hotoro, Nassarawa, Kano
Deaths
7
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
7
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
The attacks drew immediate international condemnation. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF issued a joint statement condemning the killings. The Kano State Government and the Emir of Kano condemned the attacks. Security was tightened for health workers. The Nigerian government later announced compensation of ₦3 million for each family of the slain health workers. The attacks led to a suspension of polio vaccination campaigns in the region, dealing a significant setback to Nigeria‘s polio eradication efforts.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
The attack was rooted in deep‑seated opposition to Western medicine and polio vaccination campaigns in parts of northern Nigeria. Some Muslim clerics and communities believe vaccines are part of a Western conspiracy to sterilise Muslim children or spread HIV. Kano had been a centre of vaccine opposition, including a 2003‑2004 boycott. Boko Haram had consistently condemned Western medicine and had previously targeted health workers. The attacks occurred just days after a radio programme allegedly revived conspiracy theories about forced vaccinations, heightening tensions.
Trajectory
It occurred amid a wave of violence against health workers in 2013, including the killing of three foreign doctors in Yobe State days earlier. The attacks forced the suspension of polio vaccination campaigns in Kano and other northern states, leading the WHO and UNICEF to warn that the gains made in polio eradication were being reversed. Nigeria, one of only three remaining polio‑endemic countries, recorded 121 cases in 2012; the 2013 attacks contributed to a resurgence of cases in subsequent years. The incident also foreshadowed continued attacks on health workers, including the 2022 killing of two health workers during a measles vaccination campaign in Kano.
Cycle notes
The attack directly echoed the 2012 killing of two police officers guarding polio vaccinators in Kano and the February 2013 killing of three foreign doctors in Yobe State. It also paralleled the 2012‑2013 wave of attacks on polio workers in Pakistan, where 22 vaccinators were killed in December 2012. In Nigeria, the pattern of vaccine opposition traced back to the 2003‑2004 Kano polio boycott, when the state suspended vaccinations for over a year following rumours of contamination. The 2013 attacks marked a deadly intensification of that opposition, transforming boycott into targeted assassination. The government‘s response – compensation for families – mirrored earlier measures after attacks on security forces, but did little to address the underlying distrust or to prevent future killings.
Pattern
Targeting of Health Workers
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