President says army will ‘checkmate barbaric terrorists’ who attacked Woro and Nuku in Kwara state, killing 170 people
Nigeria will deploy an army battalion to a district in the west of the country where suspected jihadist fighters killed 170 people in attacks in two villages in the region on Tuesday night, the office of the president has said.
In the country’s deadliest armed assault this year, gunmen attacked Woro and Nuku villages in Kaiama district in Kwara state, shooting residents, razing homes and looting shops.
Footage broadcast by local news stations showed bodies lying in blood on the ground, some with their hands tied, and burning houses.
Residents told Reuters the attackers were jihadists who had long preached in the village, urging locals to abandon the Nigerian state and adopt sharia rule. When villagers refused, the militants opened fire.
