Additional Coverage:
75 Villagers Dead After Boko Haram Attacks in Nigeria
Kwara State, Nigeria – In a horrific display of violence, Boko Haram Islamist militants reportedly killed 75 Muslims this week in attacks on two villages in Nigeria’s Kwara State. Regional officials confirmed the massacre occurred after locals refused the militants’ demands to surrender to what Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq described as “extremists who preached a strange doctrine.”
The attacks, which took place in the villages of Woro and Nuku, began around 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday and lasted for three to four hours. Kwara House Assembly member Saidu Baba Ahmed reported that 38 others were abducted, while many more fled as militants set homes and shops ablaze. Another official stated that 78 bodies have already been buried, with an estimated 170 more still to be recovered.
Nigerian authorities have since deployed troops to the affected area to prevent further assaults.
Amnesty International Nigeria has strongly condemned the attacks, reporting an even higher casualty count of over 200 killed across the two villages, with homes razed and shops looted. The organization also noted an additional 21 fatalities in a separate attack on Doma Village, also in Kwara State.
“This is perhaps one of the deadliest recent attacks in this part of Kwara state that has been consistently attacked by gunmen,” Amnesty International Nigeria stated. Witnesses recounted to the organization that “gunmen held a free rein while rounding up young men and entire families and slaughtering them.”
Amnesty International Nigeria criticized the “stunning absence of any form of security for the protection of lives,” given the gunmen had been “sending letters and pamphlets to the community over two weeks” prior to the deadly assaults. They urged Nigerian authorities to enhance protection for all citizens, highlighting a pattern of rural communities being left “at the mercy of rampaging gunmen.”
These attacks mark some of the deadliest reported in the region in recent months, as armed groups increasingly target civilians in north-central and northwest Nigeria, according to the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extended his “heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and government of Nigeria.” Guterres reiterated the United Nations’ “solidarity with the government and people of Nigeria in their efforts to fight terrorism and violent extremism and stresses the importance of bringing the perpetrators to justice.”