Gunmen killed people during an attack on two villages in Kwara state, Nigeria.
The attackers struck the villages of Woro and Nuku in the Kaiama region, rounding up residents and binding their hands behind their backs before executing them. Homes and shops were torched as the gunmen fled the scene.
Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the area, said the Lakurawa carried out the attacks. The Lakurawa is an armed group that has been increasingly active in Nigeria’s northern regions.
Saidu Baba Ahmed, a politician from the Kaiama region, said security forces were continuing to search nearby areas for survivors, adding that he was in the village alongside military personnel recovering bodies and combing the surrounding areas.
The whereabouts of the village’s traditional king remained unknown following the attack. People fled into the bushland with gunshot wounds as the violence unfolded.
Survivors told news agencies that the gunmen had demanded villagers embrace Sharia law. When the villagers pushed back against the militants’ demands, the attackers opened fire.
The military and police were mobilized to the area for search-and-rescue operations. Adetoun Ejire-Adeyem, a Kwara police spokesperson, confirmed the deployment of security forces.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq denounced the attack as a cowardly act born of frustration, carried out by terrorist cells in response to the ongoing counter-terrorism operations across parts of the state.
Amnesty International said the security lapses that enabled the attacks were unacceptable. The human rights organization added that the gunmen had been sending warning letters to the villagers for more than five months before the attack occurred.
The violence in Kwara state was not an isolated incident. Gunmen killed at least 13 people in Doma village in the Faskari area of Katsina state in Nigeria’s north-west region.
Last week, armed extremists in the north-east killed at least 36 people during separate attacks. Around 150 churchgoers were kidnapped last month by armed groups operating in the country’s northern regions.
Nigeria is grappling with multiple overlapping security crises. Groups affiliated with Islamic State operate in the country’s northern regions.
The Nigerian military said last month it had launched sustained coordinated offensive operations against terrorist elements in Kwara state. On January 30, the army said troops had stormed remote camps that were previously inaccessible to security forces, where several abandoned camps and logistics enablers were destroyed, significantly degrading the terrorists’ sustainment capability.
The army said it had neutralized or killed 150 people in operations last month as part of the intensified campaign.
Local authorities in Kwara state imposed curfews in response to the security situation. Schools had been closed for several weeks before authorities ordered them to reopen on Monday.
The escalating violence in Nigeria has drawn international attention in recent months. President Donald Trump accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians.
Gen. Dagvin Anderson, head of the US Africa Command, said the United States had deployed a small military team to Nigeria. Anderson said the two countries had agreed to increase collaboration in addressing the security challenges.
Kwara state sits in Nigeria’s central region, an area increasingly targeted by armed groups who raid villages, kidnap residents and loot livestock. The state borders Niger state, which has also experienced a surge in attacks by various armed factions.
The attack on Woro and Nuku represents a significant incident in Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges. The country has faced a persistent pattern of mass casualty attacks despite government assertions of progress in combating armed groups.
Many Nigerians in both northern and southern regions have criticized authorities for what they perceive as insufficient action to combat the violence. Critics argue that political activities often take precedence over addressing security concerns, even as communities continue to face deadly attacks and kidnappings.
The military has maintained that it is making significant progress in degrading the operational capabilities of terrorist groups through sustained offensive operations. However, the continued frequency and lethality of attacks demonstrate the persistent security challenges facing Africa’s most populous nation.
Local officials have attributed the attack to the Lakurawa based on the group’s operational patterns in the region.
