Armed gunmen have launched a brutal assault on two villages in western Nigeria, leaving at least 160 people dead. This marks the deadliest armed attack in the country so far this year.
According to a report by The Guardian on Wednesday (February 4), the attacks targeted the villages of Oro and Nuku in Kwara State on Tuesday (February 3). As of Wednesday afternoon, the death toll had reached 162, according to local Member of Parliament Mohammed Omar Bio.
Speaking to the news agency AP, Bio stated that the armed group Lakurawa, which has ties to the Islamic State, is suspected to be behind the massacre. However, no group has officially claimed responsibility yet.
Saidu Baba Ahmed, a politician from the Kaiama region, reported that the attackers rounded up villagers, tied their hands behind their backs, and executed them. The militants also set fire to homes and shops.
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"I am currently in the village with military personnel," Ahmed said. "We are identifying bodies and searching for the missing in surrounding areas. Many injured residents fled into the nearby bush with gunshot wounds. Several people, including the traditional king of the village, remain missing."
Local residents identified the attackers as members of a jihadist group who frequently delivered religious sermons in the villages. The militants had reportedly demanded that villagers renounce their allegiance to the Nigerian state and adhere to Sharia law. When the villagers refused, the gunmen opened fire during a religious gathering on Tuesday.
Amnesty International reported a higher death toll, stating that more than 170 people were killed. The organization criticized the "unacceptable security failure" that allowed the attack to occur, noting that the militants had been sending threatening letters to the villagers for five months.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq condemned the attack, describing it as a "cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist groups" under pressure from ongoing counter-terrorism operations.
Kwara State shares a border with Niger State, an area that has seen a recent surge in militant activity. The Nigerian military recently claimed to have conducted operations against "terrorist groups" in the region.
Nigeria is currently battling multiple security crises involving at least two Islamic State-affiliated groups: Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which emerged from Boko Haram, and Lakurawa, also known as Islamic State in the Sahel Province.
The military claims Lakurawa has roots in neighboring Niger and has increased its activity along the Nigerian border following the 2023 military coup in Niger.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, police reported that at least 13 people were killed in an attack on Doma village in the Faskari area of Katsina State. Last week, separate attacks in the northeast claimed at least 36 lives.
To combat the violence, authorities had previously imposed curfews and closed schools for several weeks in parts of Kwara State. Ironically, the order to reopen schools had only been issued this past Monday.
