Gunmen Deadly Attack In Kwara And Katsina State
Nigeria woke up on Wednesday to grief that cut across communities and regions, as gunmen carried out deadly attacks in Kwara and Katsina states, leaving families counting their losses and survivors struggling to comprehend the scale of the horror.
In Kwara State, the quiet farming community of Woro, in Kaiama, was turned into a killing field on Tuesday evening when heavily armed men stormed the village. Local authorities and rights groups say more than 170 people were killed. Residents told of how the attackers rounded up villagers, tied their hands behind their backs and shot them at close range, before setting homes and shops ablaze.
As night fell, terrified survivors fled into the surrounding bushes, clutching children and whatever they could carry. By morning, the village was left with smouldering ruins, scattered belongings and bodies awaiting burial. A local lawmaker, who was at the scene alongside security forces, said soldiers were still searching nearby areas for missing residents as families mourned their dead.
Police in Kwara confirmed that “scores” of people were killed and said security personnel had been deployed to the area for search-and-rescue operations. The Amnesty International described the attack as catastrophic, saying the gunmen had issued warnings to the community for months before carrying out the massacre, and condemned what it called grave security failures.
Reacting to the tragedy, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq described the killings as a “cowardly” act, linking it to pressure on armed groups by ongoing military operations in the area, and vowed that those responsible would be pursued.
While Kwara was still burying its dead, news emerged of another deadly assault hundreds of kilometres away.
In Katsina State, gunmen attacked a rural community, killing at least 21 people, according to residents and police. Witnesses said the attackers moved from house to house, shooting victims at close range. The assault shattered a six-month peace pact between the community and the armed group, exposing the fragile and dangerous arrangements some villages resort to in order to survive.
Security analyst Kabir Adamu warned that Nigeria’s response to armed groups remains inadequate, saying the repeated mass killings show that communities are increasingly left to face terror alone.
The twin attacks underline the depth of Nigeria’s security crisis, stretching from the north-central to the north-west, as armed gangs, extremists and kidnappers continue to prey on rural communities. For the families in Kwara and Katsina, the statistics tell only part of the story. Behind every number is a home emptied, a child orphaned, and a community scarred — once again asking when safety will return to their land.
