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Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has said that the killing of at least 75 people in villages in Kaiama Local Government Area happened because residents refused to accept religious teachings forced on them by extremists.
AbdulRazaq disclosed this on Wednesday evening during a visit to Kaiama, where he met with community members, security officials and state government leaders.
The governor said villagers in Woro and Nuku were attacked after rejecting what he described as a distorted form of Islamic teaching.
“The victims were local Muslims massacred for refusing to surrender to extremists preaching a strange doctrine.
“We commiserate with you over the death of 75 of your people. May Allah grant them Aljanna Firdaus,” AbdulRazaq said.
“And from the information I’ve been getting, this village appears to succumb to a perverted form of Islamic doctrine.
“They (terrorists) are lying under their immolation, abiding by their Islamic faith. And these villagers, they don’t want any alteration.
“And because they refuse to change doctrine in their faith, they were attacked and massacred.”
He added that this recent attack is “different from what we used to see, where subjects are kidnapped or ransacked. But this was just a pure massacre. And it’s something truly condemned.”
Residents and local officials said gunmen entered the villages on Tuesday evening, tied up residents and opened fire.
Other sources, including the Red Cross, have reported a death toll of at least 162, but the police have not released official figures.
Meanwhile, Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, a local politician, told Reuters the figure could be higher, estimating that as many as 170 people may have died.
The governor expressed sympathy with the affected families and prayed for the victims.
“The injured were later taken to the General Hospital, but some were referred to the Teaching Hospital,” he added.
President Bola Tinubu has also ordered the deployment of an army battalion to the state to “checkmate the barbaric terrorists and protect defenceless communities.”
“It’s commendable that the community members, even though Muslims, refused to be conscripted into a weird belief that promoted violence over peace and dialogue,” Tinubu said.
