By Obinna Uballa
At least 162 people have been killed after heavily armed gunmen stormed Woro village in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, in what the Red Cross described as one of the deadliest single attacks recorded in Nigeria in recent months.
Babaomo Ayodeji, the Kwara State Secretary of the Red Cross, said ongoing searches were still uncovering bodies days after the assault.
“Reports said that the death toll now stands at 162, as the search for more bodies continues,” Ayodeji said, updating an earlier toll of 67, according to a report by The Guardian UK.
The attack, which occurred around 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, was also confirmed by the police and the state government, although neither immediately provided casualty figures. A local lawmaker representing the Kaiama region, Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, earlier reported that between 35 and 40 bodies had initially been counted after the massacre.
According to Ahmed, the gunmen invaded Woro village in large numbers, setting shops and the traditional ruler’s palace ablaze while shooting indiscriminately at residents.
“Many others escaped into the bush with gunshots,” he said, adding that the final death toll could rise as more bodies are recovered. He also disclosed that the whereabouts of the village’s traditional ruler remained unknown after the attack.
The Kwara State Government blamed the massacre on what it described as “terrorist cells” operating in parts of the state. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq condemned the killings, calling them “a cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells following the ongoing counter-terrorism campaigns in parts of the state.”
Nigeria continues to grapple with overlapping security threats. Armed criminal gangs, locally referred to as bandits, frequently raid communities and kidnap residents for ransom across several regions. Jihadist groups remain active in the North-East and parts of the North-West, while intercommunal violence persists in parts of the central belt.
In recent weeks, the Nigerian military has intensified operations against armed groups in Kwara and neighbouring states. On January 30, the army announced it had launched “sustained coordinated offensive operations against terrorist elements” in parts of Kwara State.
The military claimed it had “neutralised” about 150 bandits during the operations and destroyed several remote camps and hideouts previously inaccessible to security forces.
“They successfully neutralised terrorists, while others managed to escape into the forest,” the army said in a statement, adding that troops had destroyed logistics bases that sustained the armed groups’ activities.
In response to growing insecurity, state authorities had earlier imposed curfews in some affected communities and shut down schools for several weeks. Schools were only ordered to reopen on Monday, just a day before the attack on Woro village.
The massacre has once again highlighted the fragility of security in parts of Nigeria, where communities remain vulnerable despite repeated military operations and government assurances.
The incident also comes amid heightened international attention on Nigeria’s security situation. In recent months, United States President Donald Trump alleged that Christians were facing a “genocide” in Nigeria, a claim rejected by the Nigerian government and many independent observers, who argue that the country’s complex security crises affect both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.
The New Diplomat reported earlier that the Trump administration has sent some soldiers to Nigeria in response to the attacks.
