Gunmen have killed a senior judicial official in northern Nigeria’s largest city of Kano

Gunmen have killed a senior judicial official in northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano, police said Saturday.

A Kano State police spokesman said Usamatu Badawi, a high court registrar, was pulled out of his car by gunmen and shot in the eyes as he was driving home.

"We have received report of the killing of a court registrar in Hotoro area by some gunmen last night who took away his car," the spokesman, Magaji Majia, said of Friday's incident.

"We have opened an investigation to identify the killers and their motive," he added.

Majia refused to say if the killing was carried out by Boko Haram extremists, blamed for series of targeted killings in the city.

The slain judicial officer was a former national president of the judicial workers union JUSUN.

Suleiman Aliyu, a JUSUN spokesman in Kano, said Badawi "shot in the eyes at close range."