President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate deployment of an army battalion to Kaiama Local Government Area in Kwara State following a deadly overnight terrorist attack attributed to Boko Haram militants in the village of Worro.
The assault, which occurred on Tuesday night, February 3, targeted villagers who reportedly resisted attempts at extremist indoctrination.
Reports indicate heavy casualties, with Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq confirming at least 75 deaths, including women and children, in Woro and nearby Nuku communities, describing the killings as a massacre carried out after victims refused to embrace a “strange doctrine.” Houses and properties were reportedly set ablaze.
In a strongly worded statement, President Tinubu condemned the attack as “cowardly and beastly,” describing the gunmen as “heartless” for deliberately choosing soft targets in their “doomed campaign of terror.”
He expressed particular outrage that the victims, members of a Muslim community, were killed after rejecting attempts to conscript them into a violent, extreme ideology.
“It’s commendable that the community members, even though Muslims, refused to be conscripted into a weird belief that promoted violence over peace and dialogue,” Tinubu said.
The President directed the new military command to spearhead Operation Savannah Shield with the mandate to neutralise the terrorists and provide protection for vulnerable communities in the area.
He also called for close collaboration between federal and state agencies to deliver relief to affected residents and ensure the perpetrators face justice, while offering prayers for the repose of the souls of the deceased and condolences to bereaved families, the people of Kaiama, and the Kwara State government.
The incursion by Boko Haram elements, specifically factions linked to Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, or JAS, into Kwara State underscores the expanding reach of Islamist extremism from the Northeast into Nigeria’s North-Central region, facilitated by porous borders with Niger Republic and Benin, and forested areas such as Kainji Lake National Park.
Kwara has seen increased banditry and terror-related incidents in recent months, prompting heightened security concerns.
