Kwara Village Head Says Soldiers Arrived 10 Hours After Attáck

The community leader of Woro village in Kwara State, Umar Salihu, has claimed that security forces did not reach the scene of a deadly terrorist attack until approximately ten hours after it began, by which time the assailants had escaped.

In an interview with ARISE News, Salihu stated the assault started around 5 p.m. and distress calls were made immediately. However, he alleged that soldiers only arrived around 3 a.m. the following morning.

“I called around 5 p.m., but they only came at about 3 a.m. That is about 10 hours,” he said. He added that no engagement took place as the attackers were already gone, and there was no air support or deployment of munitions to counter the raid.

Salihu further revealed he had previously reported a threat letter to security agencies, suggesting a possible leak of intelligence. He attributed the community’s vulnerability to the withdrawal of soldiers stationed there after their base was attacked months earlier.

“About three to five months ago, they attacked the soldiers. Since then, they were evacuated. We have no security presence here,” he explained.

The village head identified the attackers as members of the Mamuda terrorist group, stating the massacre was a reprisal for the community’s rejection of their extremist ideology. “Our people refused to accept their ideology, and that made them angry,” he said.

He also refuted narratives that the killings were religiously motivated, noting that most victims were Muslim.

In a separate response, the Defence Headquarters stated that troops were promptly deployed to conduct patrols and surveillance to secure the area, while also expressing shock over the incident.