Five Months After Warning Letter, Boko Haram Storms Kwara Community, Kills 170, Abducts Residents

At least 170 people have been confirmed dead after suspected Boko Haram fighters attacked Woro, a remote settlement in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State. The assault began on Tuesday evening and continued into the early hours of Wednesday, according to residents and local leaders.

Those familiar with the incident said the attack came about five months after the group sent a letter to the district head of Woro, Salihu Umar, informing him of plans to visit the community for preaching.

By Wednesday evening, search teams escorted by soldiers and forest guards had recovered 170 bodies from the village and nearby areas. More victims may still be unaccounted for.

Woro lies on the edge of Kainji National Park, a forest reserve that has increasingly served as a base for armed groups, including Boko Haram and Ansaru, known locally as Mamuda. Ansaru has operated in the area for several years, while Boko Haram fighters were reported to have moved into the forest zone in July last year.

Witnesses who spoke while in hiding said the attackers entered the village around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, firing weapons, burning homes and shops, and abducting an unspecified number of women and children.

“The shooting continued into the night and did not stop until morning,” one resident said. “Many of us ran into the bush and are still there.”

Among those killed was Salihu Ibrahim, a former students’ union leader at the Kwara State College of Nursing, Ilorin.

Another resident said the attackers burned the palace of the district head and stole his vehicle, which was reportedly used to transport some of the abducted victims into the forest. The district head remains missing.

The Kwara State Police Command did not respond to requests for comment. The Nigerian Army also did not issue a statement. However, Al Jazeera quoted the state police spokesperson as confirming the attack and stating that military personnel had been deployed to the area, without providing casualty figures.

A community leader in Kaiama said the district head had forwarded the earlier warning letter from the group to the Emirate Council in Ilorin. The council reportedly requested security deployment, and soldiers were stationed in Woro for several weeks before withdrawing when no attack occurred.

The fighters later appeared in Baburasa, a neighbouring community about 20 kilometres away, where they reportedly addressed residents three weeks ago and spoke of planned attacks on unnamed communities. They did not mention Woro at the time.

The community leader suggested the attack may have been linked to the district head’s decision to alert authorities after receiving the letter.

Security sources say the faction responsible for the attack is linked to Boko Haram commander Mallam Sadiku, whose group previously operated from the Alawa forest reserve in Niger State. That faction was blamed for a recent attack on Kasuwan Daji in Niger State that killed more than 30 people, as well as the abduction of more than 300 students from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri.

Sources, including former members of the group, said sustained aerial bombardment and internal conflict with a bandit leader forced the fighters to leave their former base and relocate towards the Kainji forest axis, bringing violence to new communities along the border of Kwara and Niger states.