The head of Woro community in Kwara State, Umar Bio Salihu, has revealed that armed bandits operated unchecked for about 10 hours during Tuesday’s deadly attack, with soldiers arriving only after the assailants had left.
Speaking on ARISE Television on Thursday, Salihu detailed the security failure: “I called after 5pm, but they did not come until about 3am the following day. That was from 5pm to about 3am. That is about 10 hours. The military did not attack them. The bandits had gone when the military came.”
He confirmed there was no air interdiction during the assault. Salihu attributed the community’s vulnerability to the withdrawal of soldiers from a local base months earlier after an attack. “Since then, they evacuated them. We have no security presence in that area. That gave them the opportunity to come anytime, enter anytime and do whatever they like.”
Salihu identified the attackers as the Mamuda terrorist group and said the assault was retaliation for the community’s rejection of their extremist ideology. “Our people are not ready to take that ideology. I think that is what made them angry to come and attack the communities.”
He dismissed claims of religious motivation, noting that 95% of the victims were Muslims. The village head also revealed he had forwarded a threat letter from the group to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Emirate Council beforehand, suggesting a possible intelligence leak.
Salihu confirmed at least 75 burials, with the death toll expected to rise as more bodies are recovered. “They burned almost half of the villages, including my house,” he stated.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has visited and ordered security deployment, while President Bola Tinubu approved an army battalion for a counter-offensive. The attack underscores the severe security gaps and intelligence failures plaguing rural communities in north-central Nigeria.
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