Kwara: Bandits gun down villagers, set palace on fire

About 10 People were feared killed on Tuesday evening when bandits invaded Woro community in Kaiama Local government area of Kwara State.

The attack according to locals started around 6:00 pm. The gunmen said to be numbering about 200 stormed the village shooting sporadically.

According to one of the residents, Mr Ahmed Yinusa, “The bandits operated for over one hour before the military were mobilised to the place.

He however said “but the distance from the Kaiama to the village is over 50 kilometers and the road condition is very deplorable which made it difficult for the military to get there on time.

“The terrorists were about 200 and they killed several people in the process. But unconfirmed reports reaching us is that about 10 people have been killed with several houses set ablaze”, he told Daily Trust Tuesday night.

Another resident of Kaiama, Mallam Idris Mohammed said about 6 corpses were presently lying at the Palace of the Emir of the Woro, Alhaji Saliu Bio Umar.

He added that the bandits further set the palace ablaze.

“It was not clear before the filing of this report whether the Emir was around.”

The lawmaker representing Kaiama at the state House of Assembly, Hon Halidu Danbaba, confirmed the incident in a telephone chat with Daily Trust Tuesday night.

He appealed to the Kwara and federal governments to extend the recent military action in Kwara South and other parts of the north to Kaiama especially given the recent go ahead for the resumption of school in those areas.

In a statement late Tuesday, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq condemned the attack and mourned the victims.

The statement said the governor was saddened by the “cowardly attack on civilians in Woro and Nuku communities of Kaiama Local Government Area”.

According to him, “this is a cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells following the ongoing counterterrorism campaigns in parts of the state and the successes so far recorded.

“The attack was apparently to distract the security forces who have successfully hunted down several terrorist and kidnapping gangs across many parts of the state”.

He expressed his “heartfelt condolences to the affected communities especially the families affected”, the state by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye added.