Bandits strike Kwara community for 10 hours before soldiers arrived – Village head

The head of Woro community in Kwara State, Umar Bio Salihu, has revealed that armed bandits carried out attacks in the area for nearly 10 hours before security forces arrived, leaving dozens dead and several villages destroyed.

Speaking on ARISE Television on Thursday, Salihu said the assault began around 5 p.m., but soldiers only reached the community around 3 a.m. the following day.

“I called after 5 p.m., but they did not come until about 3 a.m. That was from 5 p.m. to about 3 a.m.—about 10 hours. The military did not engage them. By the time they arrived, the bandits had gone,” he stated.

Salihu added that no air support was deployed during the attack.

He noted that the community had been left vulnerable after soldiers previously stationed there were withdrawn following an earlier assault on the base.

“Initially, we had a military base with about 15 soldiers. About three to five months ago, the base was attacked, and the soldiers were evacuated.

“Since then, we have had no security presence, which gave the bandits the freedom to attack at will,” he said.

The village head identified the attackers as members of the Mamuda terrorist group and said the assault was in retaliation for the community’s rejection of their ideology.

He dismissed claims that the killings were religiously motivated, noting that most victims were Muslims.

“The people they killed are mostly Muslims—about 95 per cent—and five per cent Christians,” Salihu said.

He further revealed that a warning letter from the group had been sent to security agencies prior to the attack, but mishandling of the communication may have contributed to the assault.

At least 75 people have been buried so far, though the death toll is expected to rise as bodies are still being recovered from the bush.

Several villages, including Salihu’s own home, were reportedly razed.

Following the attack, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq visited the affected communities and ordered the deployment of additional security personnel.

The attack is part of a recent wave of violence in north-central and north-west Nigeria, where rural communities have faced repeated assaults by bandits and extremist groups despite ongoing military operations.

In the past four weeks alone, hundreds have been killed or abducted across Niger, Kaduna, Kwara, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara states.

In response, President Bola Tinubu approved the immediate deployment of an Army battalion to Woro under a new counter-offensive operation, as troops and forest guards moved into the area to restore security.