The Kwara State Police Command has confirmed that at least 75 people were killed during a deadly attack on communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed the figure on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme.
“The present toll of casualties that we have from that dastardly act that happened on the 3rd of February at about 17:30 hours is 75. Investigations are still ongoing, and we will continue to update members of the public as necessary,” she said.
Ejire-Adeyemi explained that the command was promptly notified of the incident, after which the Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, ordered the immediate deployment of security personnel to the affected areas.
“When this incident happened, the Kwara State Police Command was informed accordingly, and the Commissioner of Police deployed personnel immediately to that community. Police personnel, alongside the military and the National Forest Guard, moved in almost immediately after the incident,” she stated.
She noted that the remote location of the communities posed logistical challenges, as the affected area is about two hours away from the divisional headquarters in Kaiama.
Addressing concerns that the attackers may have stayed in the communities for some time before launching the assault, the police spokesperson said investigations were ongoing.
“The police are still investigating the information that the perpetrators had probably stayed in that town for a while before carrying out that dastardly act. It is really an unfortunate incident, and we are working tirelessly to ensure that such an event does not occur again,” she said.
Ejire-Adeyemi also revealed that recent clearance operations in Kwara and neighbouring Kogi State had disrupted the activities of armed groups.
“In the last month, there have been clearance operations in Kwara State and Kogi State, which have in a way disorganised these bandits. We had been experiencing relative peace in Kwara South until this incident occurred in Kwara North,” she added.
According to her, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the reinforcement of security in the area.
“The Inspector-General of Police has ensured that adequate security is beefed up in that environment. As of this moment, it is relatively peaceful, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend these miscreants. We are committed to ensuring that such an occurrence does not happen again,” she said.
Responding to questions about police presence in Woro village at the time of the attack, Ejire-Adeyemi confirmed that officers were stationed there.
“We had a team. It might not have been a heavy deployment, but we have a police post in that community,” she said, adding that the post was active at the time of the attack.
However, reacting to claims by residents that security operatives arrived nearly 10 hours after the assault began, she admitted that officers on the ground may have been overwhelmed.
“At that moment, I believe they were probably overwhelmed. We also have collaboration with local vigilantes in that community, and most importantly, the National Forest Guard is also present there. Because of the distance from the community to the divisional headquarters, it took time before reinforcements arrived, but definitely, reinforcements came,” she explained.
She acknowledged that a stronger security presence might have helped to repel the attackers.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police has ordered the immediate deployment of tactical, operational and intelligence assets to Kaiama Local Government Area. The Nigeria Police Force described the incident as tragic and confirmed that a manhunt is underway to apprehend those responsible.
Gunmen had attacked Woro and neighbouring Nuku communities on Tuesday, killing at least 75 people, burning shops and a traditional ruler’s residence, and forcing residents to flee their homes. Some reports have suggested a higher casualty figure.
Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, described the incident as a “pure massacre” and confirmed that at least 75 victims had already been buried. President Bola Tinubu has also ordered the deployment of an army battalion to reinforce security in the state under Operation Savannah Shield.
Political groups, including a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Northern States Governors’ Forum, have condemned the killings, describing them as barbaric and reflective of worsening insecurity in the region.
