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Militants storm Nigerian villages in deadly raid
More than 100 armed extremists targeted the farming communities of Woro and Nuku in Kwara state, killing at least 75 people and abducting dozens, witnesses and officials said.
Attack unfolds at dusk
Residents were returning from their fields on Tuesday evening when militants dressed in military uniforms arrived on motorcycles. The assailants headed straight for the home of traditional leader Umar Bio Salihu after he rejected their demands to preach an extremist version of Islam in the area.
Salihu was not home, but the attackers set his compound on fire and killed two of his children-both medical students-before embarking on an overnight killing spree.
"They massacred everyone. It is just devastating," said Mohammed Dauda, a local official.
Brutality and abductions
Amnesty International reported that many victims were found with their hands and feet bound, some with slit throats or gunshot wounds. By dawn, the militants had left, taking 38 women and children with them, including the rest of Salihu's family.
"They killed two of my children and abducted my wife and three children," Salihu told reporters.
The attackers demanded residents renounce the Nigerian government and adopt their extremist teachings, which Salihu called un-Islamic.
Security failure under scrutiny
Amnesty International described the attack as a "stunning security failure," noting that militants had distributed leaflets in the villages for months, warning of violence if residents resisted their ideology. Local MP Saidu Baba Ahmed said Salihu had alerted authorities, but the military left the area before the assault began.
"We are wondering why this security lapse was allowed to happen," said Isa Sanusi, Amnesty's Nigeria director.
Witnesses said the militants operated unimpeded for hours, even praying at a local mosque and forcing residents to listen to their sermons.
Aftermath and response
Security forces arrived the next day to find Woro and Nuku in ruins, with burned homes, abandoned motorcycles, and empty market stalls. Residents spent the day recovering bodies from bushes and digging mass graves.
"I was among those who buried 30 corpses. We have never experienced this before," Dauda said.
Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq announced President Bola Tinubu had approved the deployment of an army battalion to the area. Meanwhile, survivors remain traumatized, with many roads still deserted.
Militants' origins and local defenses
Witnesses suspect the attackers came from forested areas near Kainji Lake National Park, where jihadist factions like Mahmuda-a Boko Haram splinter group-are active. The region has also seen raids by criminal gangs known as "bandits," prompting rural communities to form vigilante groups for protection.
Salihu said the militants targeted vigilantes directly this time, killing about eight of them. Last year, local defense groups had repelled a similar attack.
