KWARA: Terrorists held Woro village for 10 hours before soldiers arrived —Village Head

The village head of Woro in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, Umar Salihu, has recounted how terrorists overran his community for nearly 10 hours before security forces eventually arrived, leaving scores of residents dead and large sections of the village destroyed.

Salihu disclosed this during an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday, where he said the attack began around 5 p.m. and continued unchecked until about 3 a.m. the following day, despite repeated distress calls to security agencies.

According to him, “I called about 5p.m., but they did not come until about 3a.m. That was from 5p.m., to about 3a.m. That is about 10 hours.”

He explained that by the time soldiers arrived, the assailants had already fled the area, resulting in no confrontation between security forces and the attackers.

“The military did not attack them. The bandits had gone when the military came,” Salihu stated.

He further revealed that there was no air support during the assault, noting that aerial assets were neither deployed nor used to engage the attackers.

“The plane did not engage them. They did not interdict. They did not drop any munition on them,” he said.

Salihu also attributed the ease with which the terrorists carried out the attack to the absence of security personnel in the area, following the withdrawal of troops stationed there months earlier.

“Initially, we had a military base there. We had about 15 soldiers there. About three to five months ago, they attacked the soldiers. 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.”

The village head identified the attackers as members of the Mamuda terrorist group and said the assault was triggered by the community’s refusal to accept their ideology.

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“Exactly. Our people are not ready to take that ideology. I think that is what made them angry to come and attack the communities,” he said.

He dismissed claims that the violence was religiously motivated, clarifying that the majority of those killed were Muslims.

“The people they killed are mostly Muslims. About 95 per cent are Muslims and five percent are Christians. They are not all Muslim, but the Muslims are the majority.”

Salihu also revealed that he had earlier reported a threat letter to security agencies, raising concerns that sensitive information may have been compromised.

“When they brought the letter, they brought it directly to me. That night, I sent the letter to the Department of State Security, DSS in Kaiama.

“The following day, I took the letter myself to the Emirate Council. They photocopied it. In that process, I think they lost the appropriate contact,” he added.

He suggested that subsequent patrols may have alerted the terrorists. “When the security agents went on patrol after the letter, the terrorists became angry.”

Providing an update on casualties and destruction, Salihu said at least 75 victims had been buried, with more bodies still being discovered.

“As of yesterday, we buried 75 people. But as I’m speaking with you, there are still corpses in the bush.

“They burnt almost half of the villages, including my house,” he disclosed.

The village head confirmed that Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had visited the affected area and ordered immediate security reinforcement.

“The governor came to Kaiama. He went there himself to see what happened. He saw the destruction.

“Immediately, they took action. They directed the barracks to provide security. About 15 soldiers were deployed, and there are now about 80 security agents there,” he added.

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