A Nigerian diplomat has been found dead  at his home in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, on Thursday

No official statement has been issued by the Federal Government concerning the death of the diplomat who the Dubai-based al-Arabiya television identified as the consul general.

But an official of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs in Abuja, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak,  confirmed the death.

The ministry is yet to investigate the cause of the death though, the source said.

According to The Punch, the television station has described the death as ‘assassination.’

Security sources, whom the newspaper quoted, said Police were investigating the incident but provided no details on how he died.

Officials from the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum were not immediately available to comment.

Reports on social media suggested that the killers used a knife in the attack.

Though intermittent violence is common in Sudan’s warring southern and western regions, violence in the capital is rare.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has, in recent months, shaken up the security establishment, replacing the heads of the army and intelligence service in February.

They said he had apparently been killed and that an investigation was underway.