Kwara Massacre: How a quiet afternoon turned deadly

By SUMAYYAH ADEFAKA

It was a typical late-afternoon harmattan scene. The temperature had begun to fall, but the sun still hung hazily in the sky, the air dry and dust-laden.

Farmers were returning from their fields, while some traders were closing their shops.

For a group of young men, including 26-year-old schoolteacher Umar Bio Kabir, the hour marked the start of a routine football game.

The calm was disrupted when a long convoy of armed men on motorcycles rode into Woro, in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, last Tuesday.

Residents said there was no need for warning or speculation.

The identity of the invaders and the intent of their visit were immediately clear.

Moving swiftly, they selected their targets and opened fire.

Within moments, the market descended into chaos, the football pitch was abandoned, and the streets emptied as residents fled for safety.

Kabir, 26, ran alongside his friends, escaping the gunfire.

Although, he survived the attack, some of the young men who had been playing football with him were not as fortunate, as they were struck dead by the attackers’ bullets.

The government and security agencies subsequently confirmed the gunmen to be terrorists, who struck because the residents rejected their ‘strange’ doctrine.

About 75 victims have been reportedly buried in the aftermath of the massacre.

“God said I would survive or else I would have been among the dead,” said Kabir.

Another survivor, Razaq Abdulazeez, was returning home on the fateful day when he encountered people running out of the village.

Immediately he got wind of what was happening, he dashed into his house to rescue his loved ones. “I gathered my family members and we escaped into a bush, faraway, on the outskirts of the community.”

Abdulazeez said a number of people who could not run out of town climbed trees to hide.

An agency report said that in one of the communities, the terrorists went into a mosque, announced the call to prayer and shot everyone who turned up.

Attacked were Woro and Nuku, both of which are largely Muslim communities.

The invaders fired sporadically for about 10 hours, survivors of the attack said.

At least 50 people who escaped the violence are currently receiving treatment in hospitals for varying degrees of injury. The Senator representing Kwara North, Sadiq Umar, has visited some of the survivors.

Scores of other residents have fled the affected communities with whatever remained of their belongings, relocating to neighbouring towns in a bid to restart their lives.

By Thursday, only about 20 men were left behind in the villages, charged with the grim task of burying scores of victims. This occurred as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announced the deployment of a response team to assess the situation and coordinate intervention efforts in the aftermath of the attacks.

NEMA said it had also arranged relief materials, including food and non-food items, which have already been delivered to support victims in the affected communities. In a parallel move, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq appointed a seven-man committee to engage directly with the communities impacted by the invasion.

The committee is headed by Alhaji Ahmed Kiwozi, a former lawmaker from Kaiama Local Government Area.

To serve with Alhaji Kiwozi on the committee set up by Governor AbdulRazaq are Vice Chairman of the Local Government Council Aisha Abubakar Sadiq; Abubakar Mora; Woro Village Head Umar Bio Saliu; a representative each of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP); and a representative of the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.

The committee has four weeks to carry out its assignment and, so doing, “interface with the community leaders on rebuilding efforts, areas of need of the survivors, and other outstanding issues,” according to the state government.

United States condemn killings

Meanwhile, the United States has condemned the killings, describing them as horrific.

“The United States condemns the horrific attack in Kwara state in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of more than 160 people, with the death toll still unconfirmed and many still unaccounted for,” the US Mission in Nigeria said on X.

The statement added, “our deepest condolences to the families of those affected by this senseless violence,” and welcomed President Bola Tinubu’s “order to deploy security forces to protect villages in the area and his directive to federal and state officials to provide aid to the community and bring the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice.”

The Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, yesterday, directed the team from the Agency’s Minna Operations Office, which covers Kwara State, to temporarily relocate to the affected areas to conduct a detailed on-the-ground assessment of the situation and the needs of the impacted communities.

The agency said the assessment was being carried out in collaboration with the Kwara State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and other relevant security agencies to ensure an effective, coordinated, and well-informed response.

Umar expressed her sympathies to the affected communities and the Kwara State Government over the unfortunate incident and assured them of the Agency’s full support.

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has expressed profound condolences to the government and people of Kwara State on the killings.

In a statement issued in Abuja by his media office, Mohammed sympathised with bereaved families, praying that God grants them the fortitude to bear their immense losses and repose the souls of the departed.

The former Minister also commended the affected communities for their courage and steadfastness in the face of intimidation, highlighting their determination not to yield to the reign of terror imposed by the assailants.

He further applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his swift intervention in ordering the deployment of an army battalion to Kaiama LGA to neutralise the terrorists, describing the action as a testament to the Federal Government’s unwavering commitment to protecting innocent Nigerians, not only in Kwara State but across the nation.

Alhaji Mohammed called on the people of Kwara State to continue cooperating with both state and federal authorities in efforts to halt the attacks and restore peace and normalcy to affected communities.

In light of this tragedy, the former Minister has postponed his planned donation of copies of his latest book, Headlines & Soundbites: Media Moments That Defined an Administration, to tertiary institutions in the state, originally scheduled for next week, out of respect for the victims of the heinous killings.

He stated that a new date for the donation will be communicated in due course.