Gunmen Kill 35 People in Nigeria

Gunmen have killed at least 35 people in Kwara state in west-central Nigeria, authorities said Wednesday, with the toll expected to rise.

“This morning I was told that 35 to 40 dead bodies were counted,” Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, a local lawmaker in the Kaiama region, told AFP.

The attack was confirmed by police, who did not provide casualty figures, and the state government, which blamed it on “terrorist cells”. “Many others escaped into the bush with gunshots,” Ahmed said, adding that more bodies could be found there.

The gunmen invaded Woro village around 6:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Tuesday, and set “shops and the king’s palace ablaze,” said Ahmed. He said the traditional king’s whereabouts was unknown.

Kwara state governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq condemned the attack as “a cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells following the ongoing counterterrorism campaigns in parts of the state”.

The Nigerian military has intensified operations against jihadists and armed groups known locally as bandits, with the army making regular claims of killing huge numbers of fighters. Insecurity in Africa’s most populous country has been under intense scrutiny in recent months since US President Donald Trump alleged a “genocide” of Christians 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 both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction. (AFP/RSS)