Nearly 200 people were killed when armed men launched coordinated attacks on remote villages in western and northern Nigeria, authorities and residents said on Wednesday (4 February). Officials described the assaults as among the deadliest this year, amid the country’s worsening security crisis.
The heaviest attack struck the villages of Woro and Nuku in Kwara state on Tuesday evening, where gunmen killed at least 170 people, according to local lawmaker Sa’idu Baba Ahmed and a Red Cross official, as security forces searched for survivors and missing residents.
Ahmed said the attackers rounded up villagers, bound their hands and executed them, before burning homes, shops and the residence of the traditional ruler.
“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,” he told the reporters.
Police confirmed that “scores” of people were killed but declined to give a final figure, saying search-and-rescue operations were still under way. Several residents, including the village’s traditional king, remained unaccounted for.
Residents told press the attackers were jihadists who had previously preached in the area, demanding that villagers renounce allegiance to the Nigerian state and adopt sharia law. When villagers resisted, the gunmen opened fire, witnesses said.
In a separate attack the same day in Katsina state, armed men killed at least 13 people in Doma village, moving from house to house and shooting residents, police said. The assault shattered a six-month peace pact between local communities and armed gangs.
Rights group Amnesty International said the Kwara attackers had issued warning letters to villagers for months before the assault, calling the security failures that enabled the killings “unacceptable”.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq described the violence as retaliation for recent counter-terrorism operations, saying the attack reflected “the frustration of terrorist cells” under pressure from security forces.
According to local sources, Nigeria faces multiple overlapping security threats, including jihadist insurgencies linked to Islamic State affiliates, criminal gangs known locally as bandits, and intercommunal violence.
Officials say some of the attackers belong to the Lakurawa, an armed group operating along Nigeria’s border with Niger.
The attacks come as security cooperation with the United States intensifies. Nigeria’s defence minister confirmed that a small U.S. military team is currently in the country providing intelligence and training support, following recent joint operations and U.S. airstrikes on militant camps.
The Nigerian government has rejected claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that Christians are being specifically targeted, saying violence affects Muslims and Christians alike across Africa’s most populous nation.
Despite stepped-up military operations, residents across northern and central Nigeria say insecurity is spreading, with armed groups increasingly striking communities far from traditional conflict zones.
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