The Kwara State Police Command has confirmed that at least 75 people were killed during a deadly attack on communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed the figure on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, describing the incident as a “dastardly act.”
“The present toll of casualties that we have from that dastardly act that happened on the 3rd of February at about 17:30 hours is 75. Investigations are still ongoing, and we will continue to update members of the public as necessary,” she said.
According to Ejire-Adeyemi, the Kwara State Police Command was alerted shortly after the attack, prompting the Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, to order the immediate deployment of personnel to the affected areas. She noted that response efforts were complicated by the remoteness of the communities, which are about two hours from the divisional police headquarters in Kaiama.
“When this incident happened, the Kwara State Police Command was informed accordingly, and the Commissioner of Police deployed personnel immediately to that community. Police personnel, alongside the military and the National Forest Guard, moved in almost immediately after the incident,” she said.
Addressing claims that the attackers may have stayed in the communities for some time before launching the assault, the police spokesperson said investigations were ongoing. She added that recent clearance operations in Kwara and neighbouring Kogi State had disrupted the activities of armed groups, leading to relative peace in parts of Kwara South before the attack in Kwara North.
Ejire-Adeyemi confirmed that there was a police post in Woro village at the time of the attack and that it was active. However, she acknowledged reports from residents that security operatives arrived hours after the violence began, admitting that officers on the ground may have been overwhelmed.
“At that moment, I believe they were probably overwhelmed. Because of the distance from the community to the divisional headquarters, it took time before reinforcements arrived, but definitely, reinforcements came,” she said, conceding that a stronger security presence might have helped repel the attackers.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the immediate deployment of additional tactical, operational, and intelligence assets to Kaiama Local Government Area. The Nigerian Police Force condemned the attack, describing it as tragic, and confirmed that a manhunt is underway to apprehend those responsible.
Gunmen had attacked Woro and neighbouring Nuku communities on Tuesday, killing scores of residents, burning shops and a traditional ruler’s residence, and forcing many villagers to flee their homes. While some reports suggested a higher casualty figure, the police have maintained that the confirmed death toll stands at 75.
Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, described the incident as a “pure massacre” and confirmed that at least 75 victims had already been buried. President Bola Tinubu has also ordered the deployment of an army battalion to reinforce security in the state under Operation Savannah Shield.
More than 50 survivors of the attack are currently receiving treatment in hospitals for injuries, including gunshot wounds. The Senator representing Kwara North, Sadiq Umar, who visited some of the injured, described the incident as heartbreaking and called for sustained security operations across the senatorial district.
Political groups, including the Northern States Governors’ Forum and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, have condemned the killings, describing them as barbaric and a sign of worsening insecurity in the region.
