Two gunmen on a motorised tricycle attacked a community health centre in the Unguwa Uku (Filin Kashu) general area of Kano. The assailants opened fire on a group of female health workers who had gathered for a polio vaccination campaign, killing two and critically injuring four others. The attackers fled in the ensuing panic. The assault was the first of two near‑simultaneous attacks on health facilities in Kano that morning. Approximately 30 minutes later, a separate group of gunmen attacked the Hotoro Haye clinic, killing seven more female health workers. The combined death toll from the two attacks was nine. The Kano State Commissioner of Health confirmed that six people were shot at Unguwa Uku, of whom two died and four survived. The Kano State Police Public Relations Officer confirmed that investigations had commenced, but no arrests were made at the time.

Perpetrators

Boko Haram

Response

President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attacks and ordered security agencies to provide maximum protection for health workers. The Kano State Government suspended polio vaccination campaigns in the city for several weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF issued a joint statement condemning the killings. The Nigerian government later announced compensation of ₦3 million for each of the families of the deceased. Security was increased around health facilities, but the attacks led to a lasting climate of fear among polio vaccinators.

Displacement

0

Socioeconomic drivers

The attack was driven by 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. Boko Haram had consistently condemned Western medicine and had previously targeted health workers. The attacks occurred just days after a radio programme on Wazobia FM revived conspiracy theories about forced vaccinations, heightening tensions.

Trajectory

The assaults 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 attacks also marked a shift in Boko Haram’s tactics: moving from targeting security forces to attacking unarmed health workers engaged in humanitarian work.

Cycle notes

Directly echoed the 2003‑2004 Kano polio boycott, when the state suspended vaccinations for over a year following rumours of contamination. The 2013 attacks transformed boycott into targeted assassination, a deadly intensification of vaccine opposition. The attacks paralleled the 2012‑2013 wave of attacks on polio workers in Pakistan, where 22 vaccinators were killed in December 2012. In Nigeria, the pattern continued with the 2022 killing of two health workers during a measles vaccination campaign in Kano.

Pattern

Targeting of Health Workers

Sources

• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/2/8/health-workers-shot-dead-in-northern-nigeria
• https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/jonathan-condemns-killing-of-female-health-workers-in-kano/