Police Peg Death Toll In Kwara Killings At 75

The Kwara Police Command has confirmed that at least 75 people were killed in the recent attack on communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed this on Friday during an interview 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.

According to her, the Kwara State Police Command was promptly informed after the incident, following which the Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, ordered an immediate deployment to the affected communities.

She explained that the location of the attack posed a challenge, noting that the affected area is about two hours from the divisional headquarters in Kaiama.

“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 said.

Responding to concerns that the attackers may have been in the community 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 stated.

She added that ongoing clearance operations in Kwara and neighbouring Kogi State had disrupted the activities of armed groups in recent weeks.

“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 said.

Ejire-Adeyemi further disclosed that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had 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 added.

Asked whether there was a police presence in Woro village at the time of the attack, the spokesperson confirmed that there was.

“We had a team. It might not have been a heavy deployment, but we have a police post in that community,” she said.

Further questioned if the police post was active at the time of the attack, she responded in the affirmative.

However, when confronted with claims by residents that security operatives did not arrive until about 10 hours after the attack began, Ejire-Adeyemi admitted that the officers on the ground may have been ‘overwhelmed’.

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“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 said.

The state police spokesperson 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 following the attack.

The Nigerian Police Force condemned the incident, describing it as tragic, and confirmed that a manhunt is underway to arrest those responsible.

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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.

Meanwhile, 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 indicative of worsening insecurity in the region.