LAGOS, Nigeria 

At least four people were killed Tuesday when gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying US consulate staff, police said.  

Police spokesperson Tochukwy Ikenga said the gunmen ambushed the convoy in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of southeast Anambra state.

“The hoodlums murdered two Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the Consulate and set their bodies ablaze alongside their vehicles," he said. 

He said the attackers also abducted two police operatives and the driver of the second vehicle and fled. 

"No US citizen was in the convoy," said Ikenga, confirming a statement issued earlier in the US by the White House. 

A police response operation team is already pursuing the gunmen to rescue those abducted, he said. 

Local residents said the staff was on a humanitarian mission in the area.