7 Toronto police officers arrested over suspected ties to organized crime

TORONTO (AP) — Seven Toronto police officers and one retired officer have been arrested and charged in an organized crime investigation involving bribery, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking, authorities said Thursday.

Police officials at a news conference said the officers had collected personal and private information unlawfully and distributed it to organized crime figures, in some cases for bribes, and that mobsters then carried out shootings and other violent crimes.

“This is a painful and unsettling moment,” Toronto Police Chief Myron Myron Demkiw said. “When organized penetrates the Toronto Police Service the harm goes far beyond the immediate wrongdoing.”

York Police Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan said the investigation began in June when police uncovered a murder plot involving a corrections management employee who was being targeted by mobsters. He said the suspects had passed information to the mobsters about the employee.

Several suspected mobsters went to the corrections manager's home for the purpose of murdering him, but encountered a separate contingent of police officers who were protecting the employee and who arrested the suspected mobsters after they rammed a police car, Hogan said.

Demkiw said the officers who were suspected of wrongdoing have been suspended and that he's seeking suspension without pay for at least four of them.

York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween said it was a “deeply disappointing and sad day” for police.

“This investigation also underscores the insidious corrosive of organized crime. It highlights how these criminals find a way even the most well protected institutions across our society.”

Toronto police service chief Myron Demkiw speaks during a news conference to announce the results of 'Project South,' a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption at York regional police headquarters in Aurora, Ont. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Jon Blacker /The Canadian Press via AP)

York regional police deputy chief Ryan Hogan speaks during a news conference to announce the results of 'Project South,' a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption at York regional police headquarters in Aurora, Ont. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Jon Blacker /The Canadian Press via AP)

York regional police deputy chief Ryan Hogan speaks during a news conference to announce the results of 'Project South,' a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption at York regional police headquarters in Aurora, Ont. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Jon Blacker /The Canadian Press via AP)

York regional police deputy chief Ryan Hogan speaks during a news conference to announce the results of 'Project South,' a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption at York regional police headquarters in Aurora, Ont. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Jon Blacker /The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto police service chief Myron Demkiw, left, is joined by York regional police chief Jim MacSween, center, and YRP deputy chief Ryan Hogan at a news conference to announce the results of 'Project South,' a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption at York Regional police headquarters in Aurora, Ont. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Jon Blacker /The Canadian Press via AP)

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria is battling militants and it’s causing a terrible security situation.

Gunmen believed to be Islamic extremists killed scores of people in a western Nigerian state that is becoming a new hot spot for the violence that affects large parts of Africa's most populous country.

Local officials said at least 162 people died in the Tuesday attack and that the victims in the Muslim-majority villages of Woro and Nuku in Kwara state were targeted for refusing extremist ideology. The gunmen razed homes and looted shops.

The attack is the latest in a surge in violence in Kwara, as well as other conflict hot spots, despite recent support from the U.S. military.

Separately on Thursday, the governor of Kaduna state announced that all 183 Christians abducted from churches last month are free. He did not give details of how this was achieved.

Nigeria is facing a protracted fight with dozens of local armed groups increasingly battling for turf, including Islamist sects like the homegrown Boko Haram and its breakaway faction Islamic State West Africa Province. There is also the Islamic State group-linked Lakurawa, as well as other “bandit” groups that specialize in kidnapping for ransom and in illegal mining.

Recently, the crisis has worsened to include other militants from the neighboring Sahel region, including the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year.

Analysts say Nigeria’s recent military campaigns against the armed groups in the north, added to the growing competition within the groups, have contributed to the groups moving to new areas like Kwara through vast forests where it is difficult to hunt them.

“We may likely see the situation where these groups may come together to confront their common enemy, which is the state,” said Malik Samuel, a security researcher at Good Governance Africa.

The United States is supporting Nigeria in its military campaigns against the armed groups, despite some disagreements.

This week, the head of U.S. Africa Command said a small team of U.S. military officers are in Nigeria, focused on intelligence support.

Nigeria has been in the diplomatic crosshairs of the U.S. in recent months following threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to attack the country, alleging it is not doing enough to protect its Christian citizens.

While Christians have been among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of the armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s north, where most attacks occur.

But the U.S.-Nigeria tensions have since eased and the two countries have begun to cooperate. In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on IS-affiliated militants in Nigeria.

Last month, Nigeria’s government also said the U.S. has pledged to deliver military equipment purchased by the country but not yet delivered due to concerns about possible human rights abuses by Nigeria’s security forces.

Kwara State Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said Tuesday’s attack was likely carried out in response to recent counterterrorism operations in the region. Some of these operations have been launched based on intelligence from local communities.

Mohammed Omar Bio, a federal lawmaker from the district, blamed the attack on Lakurawa, whose members were targeted by the U.S. strikes in December, forcing some of them to flee to areas like Kwara.

Experts say that Kwara, which has seen a recent spike in deadly attacks and kidnappings, is fast becoming a new frontier for armed groups seeking to expand.

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal, and Adetayo from Lagos, Nigeria.

Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, right, holds a child, freed with other worshipers, abducted by gunmen in Kurmin Wali, upon their arrival at the state government house in Kaduna, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Abel Omotosho)

Freed church worshipers who were abducted by gunmen in Kurmin Wali, are seen upon their arrival at the state government house in Kaduna, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Abel Omotosho)

Freed church worshipers who were abducted by gunmen in Kurmin Wali, applaud upon their arrival at the state government house in Kaduna, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Abel Omotosho)