The traditional chief of Woro, a small Muslim-majority village in Kwara state, western Nigeria, has described a night of violence in which attackers killed two of his sons and seized his wife and three daughters. Umar Bio Salihu, 53, told Agence France-Presse the gunmen arrived at about 5pm on Tuesday, “just came in and started shooting.” He said shops were set alight, some people were burned inside their homes, and two of his sons were shot dead at the front of his house. Salihu said his second wife and three daughters were taken and are believed to be with the assailants in nearby bush; he survived by hiding in a house and later fleeing to the neighbouring town of Kaiama.
He said the assault continued through the night until about 3am, and that villagers counted many corpses at daybreak. Local station footage after attacks on Woro and neighbouring Nuku showed bodies pooled in blood, some with hands bound, and houses burning.
The International Committee of the Red Cross put the death toll at 162 and said searchers were still recovering bodies, making the incident the deadliest attack recorded in Nigeria so far this year. Salihu said the attackers had sent a letter saying they would come to preach, and became violent when people did not attend. Residents told Reuters that the group had long urged locals to abandon the Nigerian state and adopt sharia rule.
President Bola Tinubu condemned what he called a “beastly attack,” deployed an army battalion to the region and blamed an Islamist extremist movement often referred to as Boko Haram — a label sometimes used generically for jihadist groups in Nigeria. Amnesty International’s Nigeria office called the assault “a stunning security failure.”
The episode is the latest in a wave of violence by jihadists and armed gangs across Nigeria, where a jihadist insurgency persists in the north-east and north-west while banditry and mass kidnappings have spread in other regions. Security experts say Kwara is becoming a new frontier for such groups expanding beyond their traditional strongholds. James Barnett of the Hudson Institute told the Associated Press that armed groups are pushing farther afield amid competition in their usual areas.
Armed groups active in Nigeria include at least two Islamic State affiliates: the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of Boko Haram, and the Islamic State Sahel Province, known locally as Lakurawa. The military has said Lakurawa has roots in neighbouring Niger and became more active in Nigerian border communities after Niger’s 2023 coup. Kwara borders Niger state within Nigeria, where ISWAP and other groups have stepped up village attacks and mass kidnappings.
The Woro assault has intensified scrutiny of insecurity in Nigeria following last year’s claim by then-US president Donald Trump of a “genocide” against Christians — a characterization rejected by the Nigerian government and many experts, who note that violence in the country has killed both Christians and Muslims. Separately on Tuesday, police said unknown gunmen killed at least 13 people in Doma village in Katsina state.
This report draws on coverage by Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the Associated Press.