Terrorists have executed at least 162 people in a brutal massacre in Kwara State, marking Nigeria’s deadliest armed attack so far this year, according to Red Cross findings.
The assault occurred on Tuesday in Woro village. Babaomo Ayodeji, the state secretary of the Nigerian Red Cross, confirmed the death toll to AFP on Wednesday afternoon. Local estimates reported by Reuters suggest the figure could be as high as 170.
A local politician from the Kaiama region, Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, described a horrific scene. He told Reuters the terrorists rounded up residents, tied their hands behind their backs, and executed them. Homes and shops were also set ablaze.
“I am in the village along with military personnel, sorting dead bodies and searching nearby areas,” Ahmed stated, adding that many wounded villagers fled into the bush and several residents, including the traditional ruler, remain missing.
According to residents, the attackers were jihadists who had been regularly preaching in the village, demanding that residents abandon allegiance to the Nigerian state in favor of Sharia law. The violence erupted when villagers resisted, and the gunmen opened fire during a sermon.
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, condemned the killings, calling them “a cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells” reacting to intensified security operations in the state.
Police have acknowledged the attack but have not released official casualty figures. Kwara borders Niger State, an area increasingly plagued by armed gangs, and the Nigerian military recently reported anti-terrorist operations in the region.
This massacre underscores Nigeria’s escalating and overlapping security crises, which include a jihadist insurgency, rampant kidnappings by bandits, and persistent intercommunal violence.
