Kwara communities urge release of 176 kidnapped victims, caution against escalating terrorist threats

The Kaiama Development Association and the Batombu Unity and Development Initiative are calling on the federal government and the Kwara State Government to take immediate action to rescue the 176 people abducted during the February 3 attack on Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.

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The groups are warning that the deteriorating security situation in Kaiama and Baruten Local Government Areas could escalate into a full-blown insurgency if urgent measures are not taken to address the issue.

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Alhaji Umar Gunu, President of the KDA Abuja Branch, spoke on behalf of the groups during a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, highlighting that the security situation in the two local government areas has reached a critical point, with over 500 people reportedly killed since the beginning of 2026, thousands displaced, and several communities repeatedly attacked by terrorists and armed bandits.

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Gunu explained that the press conference was necessary because the communities could no longer remain silent while residents continued to suffer attacks, displacement, and neglect, prompting them to speak out about the unfolding humanitarian and security catastrophe that has devastated their communities.

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Gunu noted that despite Kaiama and Baruten accounting for more than half of Kwara State’s landmass and being one of its most productive agricultural belts, the communities have suffered decades of neglect and remain the only two local government areas without direct road access to Ilorin, the state capital.

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The poor road network has further compounded the security crisis, according to Gunu, who stated that it slows the movement of security personnel while providing armed groups with opportunities to launch attacks and retreat into surrounding forests.

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Gunu emphasized that the deplorable condition of the roads isolates the communities and creates a significant operational advantage for terrorists, allowing them to strike repeatedly and retreat into the forests before help can arrive.

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The group’s spokesperson recalled that terrorists attacked Woro and neighbouring Nuku communities on February 3, killing over 200 residents and abducting more than 170 others, including women, nursing mothers, and children, leaving families of the victims without any meaningful information about their loved ones or evidence of sustained rescue efforts.

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Nearly six months after the incident, the families of the victims still wait, uncertain whether their loved ones are alive or dead, while the trail to their rescue appears to have gone cold, Gunu lamented.

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The violence has spread to several other communities, including Tungan Maje, Kemanji, Tungan Aboki, Karonji, Sekugbe, Kenugbe, and Yashikira, where armed men reportedly invaded the Emir’s palace and abducted his wives and children, Gunu said.

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The persistent attacks have displaced thousands of residents, crippled economic activities, and forced many farmers to abandon their farmlands, with communities now living under the constant fear of spontaneous attacks, according to Gunu.

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Economic activities have been severely disrupted, with markets collapsing, businesses closing, children losing access to education, and healthcare becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, Gunu explained, adding that the socio-economic fabric of the communities is steadily unravelling.

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The KDA president warned that the crisis has evolved beyond ordinary banditry into a dangerous combination of organised terrorism and criminal violence, with intelligence reports suggesting links between some of the attackers and jihadist groups operating across Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.

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Gunu expressed fears that the violence confronting the communities has evolved beyond ordinary criminality, with the calculated, ideologically driven violence of jihadist networks operating side by side with the opportunistic criminality of armed bandits.

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The situation can no longer be treated as an isolated local security problem, Gunu pointed out, as it bears disturbing similarities to the early stages of the insurgency that engulfed North-East Nigeria and banditry in the North-West.

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Gunu warned that unless urgent, coordinated, and decisive action is taken, there is a real danger that the region could become another entrenched theatre of violent extremism.

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The KDA president expressed concerns that political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections could overshadow the worsening security situation, alleging that some elected representatives have remained silent over the crisis.

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Gunu urged the federal government, the Kwara State Government, the National Assembly, security agencies, and humanitarian organisations to act urgently by rescuing the 176 Woro abductees, securing the release of the wives and children of the Emir of Yashikira, dismantling terrorist camps around the Borgu Game Reserve, providing humanitarian support for displaced persons, rebuilding destroyed communities, and rehabilitating strategic roads linking Kaiama and Baruten with Ilorin.

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Gunu maintained that the people of Kaiama and Baruten are not asking for special treatment, but rather for what every Nigerian is entitled to: security, dignity, equal citizenship, and the protection guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.