Story by Anugrah Kumar
Gunmen massacred and executed dozens of people in two Muslim-majority villages in Nigeria’s western Kwara state after residents refused to accept their extremist preaching, according to reports.
The violence began on Tuesday evening and lasted for about 10 hours, leaving bodies strewn across Woro and Nuku, residents told The Associated Press. The attack follows a letter sent weeks earlier to residents announcing the intention to spread a radical interpretation of Islam.
Several villagers, including traditional leaders’ relatives, were killed or kidnapped. One survivor told AP the assailants entered a mosque, made the call to prayer, and then shot worshippers as they arrived.
Gunmen arrived on motorcycles, tied many of the villagers’ hands behind their backs, and executed them, witnesses said. The attackers also went house to house and opened fire, with some victims shot during prayer, and others burned alive, the villagers said.
President Bola Tinubu deployed an army battalion to the region following the killings, which officials blamed on Boko Haram, a terror Islamist group that has previously operated farther north, reports the BBC.
Kwara state lawmaker Saidu Baba Ahmed said 38 people were abducted and properties were destroyed during the attack, which he described as retaliation for resisting radical Islamists. Local security groups were mobilized in response, but were overwhelmed when the attackers descended.
In a statement on Wednesday, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said the massacre was a reaction to recent counterterror operations and an effort to divert security forces.
Only a handful of men were left in the area by Thursday, tasked with burying bodies amid the ashes of destroyed homes and a strong smell of blood. “There are not enough people left in the village,” one resident told AP.
Babaomo Ayodeji of the Nigerian Red Cross confirmed the death toll stood at 162, though more bodies were expected to be found as searches continued, according to AFP.
Amnesty International issued a statement saying over 170 people had died, with many shot at close range or burned, and called for a full investigation into what it called a total failure of protection.
On the ground in Woro, survivors were seen gathering belongings and leaving for Kaiama, the nearby district center.
Maryam Muhammed, a 57-year-old woman, was quoted as saying that she searched through burned corpses to find her husband’s body. He had served as the muezzin of the local mosque. “When I did not hear his voice when the day broke, I knew there was trouble,” she told AP.
Nigeria’s Defence Minister Christopher Musa confirmed for the first time that United States troops were in the country providing intelligence support, following a formal request from Nigeria’s government.
General Dagvin Anderson of U.S. Africa Command said last week that the deployment was part of a growing security partnership focused on counterinsurgency support.
The United States carried out airstrikes on Dec. 25 against Islamic State-affiliated militants in northwest Nigeria. The White House had previously urged Nigeria to increase protection for religious communities amid ongoing violence.
In recent years, Nigeria has faced attacks from various armed groups, including Boko Haram, the Islamic State of West Africa Province, and others classified locally as “bandits.” These groups often target both Christian and Muslim communities.
Last week, Nigeria’s military said it killed a senior Boko Haram commander and 10 other militants in Borno during an operation.
