U.S., Group Condemn Kwara Attack as Gov AbdulRazaq Appoints Seven-man Committee

·ADC to Tinubu: Kwara Mass Killings Expose Leadership Failure

Chuks Okocha in Abuja, Hammed Shittu in Ilorin and David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The United States and a Rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) have strongly condemned the devastating attack in Kwara State, which claimed several lives, with many still unaccounted for.

This was as the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has approved the appointment of a seven-person committee to interface with Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state on humanitarian support he announced earlier on Thursday after terrorists attack in the town.

Also, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) which condemned the killing of about 170 people in Kwara State, described the attack as evidence of a total collapse of security under President Bola Tinubu-led federal government.

In a statement, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria expressed its deepest condolences to the families affected by the senseless violence.

The mission also welcomed President Tinubu’s swift response, including the deployment of security forces to protect vulnerable villages and directives to federal and state officials to provide urgent aid and bring the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice.

“The United States condemns the horrific attack in Kwara state in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of more than 160 people, with the death toll still unconfirmed and many still unaccounted for. We express our deepest condolences to the families of those affected by this senseless violence.

“We welcome President Tinubu’s order to deploy security forces to protect villages in the area and his directive to federal and state officials to provide aid to the community and bring the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice.”

Intersociety in a press statement signed by its Board of Trustees Chairman, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, insisted that the attacks were enough evidence that present and successive governments in Nigeria remained incompetent in tackling terrorism.

The group accused the government of not doing well to suppress the number of killings of Christians in Nigeria.

Part of the statement read: “The killings in the two areas were also found to have recorded scores of Christian victims, according to local CAN leaders and other sources contacted.

“For the avoidance of doubt, in Katsina State, indigenous Christians are found in large numbers in Southern part of the State including in Faskari and Malumfashi local government areas. From our several investigations and established contacts or networks over the years, indigenous and sedentary Christians are also found in their millions in Southern Gombe, Southern Borno, Southern Kebbi, Southern Bauchi, Southern Kaduna and in Munya, Shiroro, Paikoro, Rafi and Kontagora parts of Niger State and so on.

“Intersociety also strongly condemns the Nigerian Government and media downplaying or ignoring of the latest massacre (since Sunday, February 1, 2026) of no fewer than 70 defenceless Christians by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and their ethno-religious collaborators and reported attacks on dozens of churches in villages of Chanchanji part of Taraba State in North-east Nigeria.

“When Christians are killed, their killers are often downplayed as ‘partners in farmers-herders’ clashes seeking revenge for their rustled or stolen or slain cows. This is nothing short of cultural violence amplification of Religious Genocide-a replica of the Rwandan Genocide of April-July 1994,” the group said.

The group said it will not relent in speaking about the ills in the country, especially as it relates to killings.

It said, “Intersociety remains a strong advocate of the sanctity of human life and protection of defenceless citizens irrespective of their religious and ethnic affiliations. We have since 2009 remained focused and unyielding on religious freedom and protection.

“As a matter of indisputable truth, therefore, the State of Nigeria has been ravaged by Religious Persecution, especially Persecution against Christians and their sacred places of worship and learning since June 2015.

“We at Intersociety have therefore remained focused and consistent in monitoring and tracking religious persecution in Nigeria or any part thereof since 2009, during which its patterns and trends were carefully studied.”

Meanwhile, a statement by Governor AbdulRazaq’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, announced chairman of the 7-person committee as Hon. Ahmed Kiwozi, a former lawmaker from Kaiama Local Government Area.

Other members are the Vice Chairman of the Local Government Council Aisha Abubakar Sadiq; Alhaji Abubakar Mora; Woro Village Head, Alhaji Umar Bio Saliu; and a representative each of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP); and a representative of the Office of the Secretary to the State Government who must be a female.

The statement further said that the committee, which has four weeks to carry out its assignment, will interface with the community leaders on rebuilding efforts, areas of need of the survivors, and other outstanding issues.

However, the ADC in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, questioned what had become of the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on security and the promised recruitment of thousands of police officers, noting that the continued mass killings suggest those measures were either ineffective or were mere declarations in the first place.

The party also wondered whether the heightened security activities seen last year in the aftermath of the comments by the U.S. President was mere posturing to earn  international approval rather than genuine efforts to end insecurity in the country.

According to ADC, the scale and frequency of killings across the country since then has shown that whatever measures the government has taken since then is not working, indicating that the government approach is merely redistributing terror rather than eliminating it.

The ADC said that the horrific massacre is one of the worst atrocities recorded in recent times and stands as a painful reminder of the complete collapse of security across the country.

According to the ADC spokesman, ”We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Kwara State, who have once again been abandoned to mourn their dead in a nation that appears incapable of protecting its citizens.

”As many analysts have noted, what makes this tragedy even more troubling are growing concerns that the perpetrators may be part of terrorist elements recently dispersed by the United States Christmas-Day military action in Sokoto State, who are now relocating to other states due to weak internal security coordination.

”The net summary of this, which has now become self-evident from this industrial scale killings in areas hitherto considered safe, is that the Tinubu administration, whatever it is doing, is not winning the war against terror, it is merely redistributing it.

”Whether it is the mass abductions in Kaduna or the mass killings in Kwara, both highlights the deep structural failures of Nigeria’s internal security system in terms of intelligence gathering, border control, inter-agency collaboration, and emergency response capability.

”Nigerians are therefore compelled to ask serious questions. What happened to the President’s much-publicised declaration of a state of emergency on security announced in November 2025? Was it a sincere commitment to restoring safety, or was it merely a rhetorical response to rising international and home-grown public anger? Abdullahi asked.

The ADC also recalled that the Presidency announced a major recruitment drive into the Nigeria Police Force as part of this emergency response.

It said that tens of thousands of new personnel were reportedly approved for recruitment to strengthen internal security nationwide.

”Nigerians are entitled to know what has become of that promise. Have these recruits been employed, trained, and deployed, or has the exercise quietly stalled? If such measures were genuinely implemented, vulnerable rural communities like those in Kwara State should not be left completely exposed to mass slaughter.

”We are equally disturbed by the pattern of performative security responses witnessed last year, when Nigeria suddenly projected an image of firmness following public comments and tweets by the President of the United States drawing attention to insecurity in the country. That brief display of urgency has since faded, raising legitimate concerns that the initial response was more about impressing foreign observers than about securing the lives of Nigerians.

”The painful truth is that Nigeria’s security crisis has clearly moved beyond the competence and capacity of the Tinubu-led federal government. Across the country, killings have become routine, accountability has disappeared, and government response has been reduced to condolences and condemnations in the aftermath of each tragedy, conveniently forgetting that a government that cannot safeguard the lives of its people has failed in its most fundamental duty,” he said.

The ADC therefore called on the federal government to immediately come clean with Nigerians on the true state of Nigeria’s national security, to account for the security recruitment it announced, and to explain how it intends to stop the spread and relocation of terrorist groups across states.

Abdullahi said, ”Nigeria cannot continue on this path of denial and inaction. Lives are not statistics, and governance is not public relations. The ADC stands firmly with Nigerians in demanding competent leadership, honest governance, and a security strategy that protects lives rather than reacts after mass graves have been dug.”