The Woro community and surrounding villages in Kwara State's Kaiama Local Government Area recently endured horrific terrorist attacks, which residents reported were preceded by letters from the assailants informing them of an intention to 'preach'. These coordinated assaults led to the deaths of at least 75, with some reports indicating over 100 residents killed, and numerous houses burnt.

The traditional leader, Umar Bio Salihu, confirmed receiving a letter from the terrorists, who were described as Islamic fundamentalists holding an extremist version of Islam. Salihu, who was away during the initial attack, returned to find his house razed and two of his children killed, after his wife and other children had been abducted. The terrorists reportedly demanded that residents renounce the Nigerian government and adhere to their teachings, which Salihu noted was “against what the Quran teaches”.

Eyewitnesses, such as Woro resident Abdulla Umar Usman, described the terrorists arriving in multitudes. Usman recounted the tragic killing of two of the community head’s children, both medical students, directly in front of their home before it was set ablaze, highlighting the brutality of the attacks.

In the aftermath, Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq unequivocally attributed the violence to Islamic fundamentalists, categorizing the incident as an act of terrorism rather than communal violence or banditry. He had also ordered the deployment of an army battalion to the affected LGA.

The federal government swiftly condemned the killings, with President Bola Tinubu vowing that those responsible would not