At least 78 bodies have been recovered and given mass burial following a deadly terrorist attack on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State on Tuesday evening, with fears that the death toll could rise to as high as 170.
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Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who visited the affected communities on Wednesday accompanied by security chiefs and cabinet members, confirmed that residents were massacred for refusing to accept what he described as a “perverted form of Islamic doctrine” being imposed by the terrorists.
In a video posted on the Kwara Government X handle on Wednesday showing the governor standing in a traditional palace setting, flanked by military officers and local leaders, AbdulRazaq commiserated with survivors and announced federal support.
“We commiserate with you over the death of 75 of your subjects. May Allah grant them Aljana Firdaus,” the governor said.
“And from the information I’ve been getting, this village refuses to succumb to a perverted form of Islamic doctrine. They (terrorists) are lying under their immolation, abiding by their Islamic faith. And these villagers, they don’t want any alteration.
“And because they refuse to change doctrine in their faith, they were attacked and massacred. It’s different from what we used to see, where subjects are kidnapped or ransacked. But this was just a pure massacre. And it’s something truly condemned.”
The governor described the massacre as a cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells.
The grieving people of the Woro community recovered 78 bodies of victims and performed the funeral prayer (Janazah) on the corpses at about 6:30pm on Wednesday, shortly before the evening (Maghrib) prayer.
Hon. Saidu Baba Ahmed, member representing Gwanabe/Gwaria constituency of Kaiama Local Government Area in the Kwara State House of Assembly, who witnessed the funeral prayer, confirmed the development.
“We have recovered 78 corpses — 75 males, three females. We performed Janazah (funeral prayer) on the corpses around 6:30pm. We have commenced burying the corpses in batches. Some were put together in groups of 10, 15, and 20 and given a mass burial,” Hon. Ahmed said.
The lawmaker disclosed that 35 residents were abducted and whisked away into the bush by the armed bandits.
“The information at my disposal indicated that the casualties are about 170. So, our people are still in the bush searching for more bodies. Thirty-five women were abducted. Survivors are also taking refuge in the bush,” he added.
Sources revealed that two children of the village head of the Woro community were among those killed by the bandits. The palace of the village head, residential buildings, and shops were razed by the rampaging bandits.
Hon. Aliyu Mande, a community leader in Kaiama and former member of the state House of Assembly, confirmed: “My brother, the casualty figure is more than 40. It’s about 86, and two children from the village were among the victims. One of the village head’s children, who was killed, just graduated from the School of Nursing in 2025.
“The bandits also burnt the village head’s palace, shops and residential buildings. We are indeed devastated. The loss of lives and property is huge and unimaginable.”
A resident of the Woro community, Alhaji Usman Ibrahim Woro, put the casualty figure at 80.
The armed bandits launched the deadly attack on Woro and Nuku communities around 5:30pm on Tuesday. According to reports, gunmen allegedly rounded up residents, bound their hands, and opened fire indiscriminately.
The police spokesperson in the state, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, confirmed the incident, saying the attack on the communities began at about 6pm on Tuesday. She added that security agencies had since been deployed to the affected areas but noted that the number of casualties remained uncertain, while reports of missing persons are still under investigation.
The senior assistant to the governor on Security, Alhaji Muhideen Aliyu, confirmed the development during a telephone conversation on Tuesday night. By Tuesday night, 10 persons had been confirmed killed.
US-based Nigerian scholar Prof. Farooq Kperogi, in a write-up on the incident, revealed that the trigger for the mass massacre was the decision by the district head of the village, Alhaji Salihu Umar, to inform authorities of a letter the community received from the terrorists stating that they would be coming to preach in the village at an unspecified date.
“The village head suspected that the terrorists, known to locals as Mamuda, were up to no good, so he did what all law-abiding people would do: report to the security forces,” Kperogi wrote.
“It turned out, however, that the terrorists appeared to have informants among the security forces the village head reported to. At least that’s what the people believe.
“The terrorists were incensed that the village head had the temerity to report them to the security forces and decided to go on a mass murdering spree in retaliation. It’s not the first time the Mamuda terrorists have done such a thing in that community.”
Kperogi added: “They not only murdered, they also burned homes and kidnapped people, using the personal SUV of the village head, whose whereabouts are still unknown as of the time of writing.”
The scholar noted that the bloodbath started Tuesday evening and continued into the morning hours of Wednesday.
According to Kperogi, in previous weeks, the terrorists massacred hundreds of innocents on the Niger State side of Borgu in a brutal manner.
“What kinds of homicidal beasts spill innocent blood just for the hell of it? The government must act to stop this insensate cruelty once and for all. Security must be beefed up across the entire Borgu area, from Kebbi through Niger to Kwara,” he wrote.
Kperogi also clarified that the victims were Muslims, countering any potential misrepresentation of the attack.
In response to the attack, Governor AbdulRazaq announced that President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate deployment of an army battalion under “Operation Savannah Shield” to launch counter-offensives against the perpetrators.
Soldiers and forest guards have been deployed to Woro and Nuku communities to flush out the bandits and secure the area.
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