By Tunde Omolehin and Dyepkazah ShibayanThe Related Press
SOKOTO, Nigeria (AP) — Armed extremists killed a minimum of 162 folks throughout assaults on two villages in western Nigeria, a lawmaker mentioned Feb. 4, in one of many deadliest assaults in latest months. One rights group estimated the dying toll might be greater.
The assaults focused the villages of Woro and Nuku, within the state of Kwara, on the night of Feb. 3, Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the world, instructed The Related Press.
He mentioned the assaults had been carried out by the Lakurawa, an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State group. Nobody has claimed accountability for the assaults.
Ayodeji Emmanuel Babaomo, the Purple Cross secretary in Kwara state, mentioned the group has been unable to achieve the communities the place “scores of individuals had been killed” as a result of they’re in a distant space — about eight hours from the state capital and close to Nigeria’s border with Benin.
Footage from the scene on native tv exhibits our bodies mendacity in blood on the bottom, some with their fingers tied, in addition to burning homes.
Amnesty Worldwide mentioned in an announcement the gunmen killed over 170 folks, razed properties and looted outlets.
“The safety lapses that enabled these assault[s] are unacceptable,” the rights group mentioned, including that the gunmen had been sending “warning” letters to the villagers for greater than 5 months.
State governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq described the assault as a “cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells” in response to ongoing army operations towards armed extremists within the state.
Nigeria is within the grip of a fancy safety disaster, with an insurgency by Islamic militants within the northeast alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen throughout the northwest and north-central areas over latest months.
Individually on Feb. 3, unknown gunmen killed a minimum of 13 folks within the village of Doma, within the northwestern state of Katsina, police spokesman Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu mentioned. Nobody has claimed accountability for the assault.
Boko Haram extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed a minimum of 36 folks final week throughout separate assaults on a building website and on a military base.
The armed teams in Nigeria embrace a minimum of two affiliated with IS, an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group referred to as the Islamic State West Africa Province within the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), recognized domestically as Lakurawa, and outstanding within the northwest.
The Nigerian army has mentioned up to now that the Lakurawa has roots in neighboring Niger and that it grew to become extra lively in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 army coup.
James Barnett, a researcher on the Washington-based Hudson Institute, mentioned the assault in Kwara state was almost certainly perpetrated by the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, or JAS, a Boko Haram faction that has been accountable for different latest massacres within the space.
On Feb. 3, the pinnacle of U.S. Africa Command mentioned the US had despatched a small staff of army officers to Nigeria, the most recent step in its response to the safety disaster. In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on IS-affiliated militants in Nigeria.
Africa’s most populous nation has been within the diplomatic crosshairs of the U.S. following threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to assault the nation, alleging it isn’t doing sufficient to guard its Christian residents.
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Shibayan reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Related Press author Afolabi Sotunde contributed to this report.
