Nigeria Deploys Troops After jihadist Attacks in Kwara State. Lagos, Nigeria — The Nigerian government has announced the deployment of an army battalion to the Kaiama district in Kwara state following a series of attacks by suspected jihadist fighters. At least 170 people were killed in the attacks on Woro and Nuku villages on Tuesday night.
According to local reports, gunmen attacked the villages, shooting residents, burning homes, and looting shops. Footage broadcast by local news stations showed bodies lying on the ground, some with their hands tied, and houses in flames. Residents told Reuters that the attackers were jihadists who had long preached in the village, urging locals to abandon the Nigerian state and adopt sharia rule.
In a statement, the office of President Bola Tinubu condemned the attacks as “cowardly “and announced the deployment of the military command to Kaiama. “President Tinubu said the new military command will spearhead Operation Savannah Shield to checkmate the barbaric terrorists and protect defenceless communities, “the statement.
The incidents are part of a series of repeated and widespread acts of violence by jihadists and other armed groups in Nigeria.
The country is experiencing a jihadist insurgency in the north — east and north-west, as well as a surge in looting and kidnapping for ransom by armed groups known as “bandits” in the north-west and north-central regions. Kwara borders Niger state, which has been increasingly targeted by armed groups.
The violence raises fears that jihadist factions from the north are pushing south.
The military has intensified operations against jihadists and armed bandits and regularly claims to have killed huge numbers of fighters. Insecurity in Africa’s most populous country has been under intense scrutiny in recent months since the US president, Donald Trump, alleged that there was a “genocide” of Christians happening in Nigeria.
The claim has been rejected by the Nigerian government and many independent experts, who say the country’s security crises claim the lives of Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.
Further details are expected as the situation remains developing.
