Some armed men suspected of being secessionists on Wednesday beheaded a police officer, Daouda Charles, in the country’s restive North West region.

Going by official reports, Daouda Charles who was a member of a special operation, was stationed at the town of Wum, North west region, when his murderers chopped off his head and took away his rifle. He had been at a roadblock with a colleague when the armed men attacked and killed him, a security source said.

“They cut off his head and took it away,” the source added.

The ambush occurred amid an armed campaign by separatists to gain independence for the Northwest and Southwest Regions, a predominantly English-speaking part of the French-speaking West African state.

Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority have led to almost daily acts of violence and retribution that have claimed scores of lives and forced tens of thousands from their homes.