Gunmen kill nearly 200 in Nigeria’s Kwara and Katsina attacks

By Ardo Hazzad

BAUCHI, Nigeria, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Nearly 200 people have been killed by armed men in separate attacks in remote villages in central and northern Nigeria, a local lawmaker, residents and police said on Wednesday, as security forces searched for survivors and chased the attackers.

In central Kwara state, gunmen attacked Woro community on Tuesday leaving at least 170 people dead, the lawmaker for the area, Saidu Baba Ahmed, said by phone.

It was the deadliest assault recorded this year in the district bordering Niger state, an area increasingly targeted by gunmen who raid villages, kidnap residents and loot livestock.

Ahmed said the gunmen rounded up residents, bound their hands behind their backs and executed them. The lawmaker shared photographs of dead bodies with Reuters, which the agency was not immediately able to verify.

Villagers fled into surrounding bushland during the attack, he said. The gunmen torched homes and shops.

Police said “scores were killed”, without giving a figure.

‘SORTING DEAD BODIES’

“As I’m speaking to you now, I’m in the village along with military personnel, sorting dead bodies and combing the surrounding areas for more,” Ahmed said.

Several people were still missing on Wednesday morning, he said. 

Residents told Reuters the gunmen, thought to be jihadists who often preached in the village, demanded that locals ditch their allegiance to the Nigerian state and switch to Sharia Islamic law. When the villagers pushed back, the militants opened fire.

Kwara police spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyem said the police and military were mobilised to the area for a search-and-rescue operation, but declined to provide casualty details.

In a separate attack in northern Katsina state, gunmen killed at least 21 people, moving from house to house to shoot their victims, residents and local police said.

The attack broke a six-months peace pact between the community and the armed gang.

It also highlighted the dilemma faced by residents in Nigeria’s remote north, where some have sought peace with armed gangs that terrorise them. Residents typically pool money and food, which they give to bandits so they are not attacked.

Nigeria is under pressure to restore security since U.S. President Donald Trump accused it last year of failing to protect Christians after numerous Islamist attacks and mass kidnappings. U.S. forces struck what they described as terrorist targets on December 25.

The Nigerian authorities say they are cooperating with Washington to improve security and have denied there is systematic persecution of Christians. 

(Additional reporting by Dare Akogun in Ilorin, Hamza Ibrahim in Kano and Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Ben Ezeamalu; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Andrew Heavens and Sharon Singleton, William Maclean)