Islamic extremists behind massacre in Kaiama communities — Kwara Gov

The governor of Kwara state, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has attributed the recent deadly attack on some communities in the state to Islamic fundamentalists.

At least 75 people were killed and several houses razed on Wednesday when terrorists struck the Nuku and Woro communities in Kaiama LGA.

Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, the Kwara police spokesperson, said the assault began around 6pm on Tuesday.

Subsequently, Rauf Ajakaye, chief press secretary to the governor, told TheCable that the victims — described as moderate Muslims — were murdered for “refusing to surrender to extremists who preached a strange doctrine”.

Addressing religious and security leaders at the government house in Ilorin, Abdulrazaq said the affected communities were attacked because residents rejected extremist beliefs.

“From the information we’ve been getting, this village refused to succumb to a perverted form of Islamic doctrine,” the governor said.

“They aligned under the emirate, abiding by the Islamic faith. They didn’t want an alteration to how they pray to God, how they pray to Allah. Because they refused a change in the doctrine, they were attacked and massacred.

“It’s different from what we used to see when persons were kidnapped for ransom. But this was just a pure massacre and should be condemned.”

Following the incident, President Bola Tinubu approved the deployment of an army battalion to the affected local government area.

In a statement issued Wednesday night, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, said Tinubu ordered the new military formation to lead “Operation Savannah Shield” to “checkmate the barbaric terrorists and protect defenceless communities”.

Onanuga added that the president “condemned the cowardly and beastly attack”, describing the assailants as “heartless for choosing soft targets in their doomed campaign of terror”.