Nigeria sends troops to villages attacked by jihadist fighters | Nigeria

Nigeria will deploy a military battalion to a district within the west of the nation the place suspected jihadist fighters killed 170 folks in assaults in two villages within the area on Tuesday night time, the workplace of the president has stated.

Within the nation’s deadliest armed assault this yr, gunmen attacked Woro and Nuku villages in Kaiama district in Kwara state, capturing residents, razing properties and looting outlets.

Footage broadcast by native information stations confirmed our bodies mendacity in blood on the bottom, some with their palms tied, and burning homes.

Residents instructed Reuters the attackers have been jihadists who had lengthy preached within the village, urging locals to desert the Nigerian state and undertake sharia rule. When villagers refused, the militants opened fireplace.

About 38 homes have been destroyed, stated Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, a lawmaker representing the district on the state meeting. Nobody has claimed accountability for the assault.

In a press release, the workplace of Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, condemned Tuesday’s assault as “cowardly” and stated a Nigerian military battalion can be deployed to Kaiama, the native authorities space the place it occurred. Kaiama had restricted safety presence till now.

“President Tinubu stated the brand new navy command will spearhead Operation Savannah Protect to checkmate the barbaric terrorists and defend defenceless communities,” the assertion stated. It added that the gunmen had focused villagers who had rejected makes an attempt to impose extremist rule.

The incidents have been the newest in a collection of repeated and widespread acts of violence by jihadists and different armed teams in Nigeria. The nation is experiencing a jihadist insurgency within the north-east and north-west, in addition to a surge in looting and kidnapping for ransom by armed teams often called “bandits” within the north-west and north-central areas.

The armed teams in Nigeria embrace not less than two affiliated with Islamic State: an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group often called the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province, recognized regionally as Lakurawa.

The navy has previously stated the Lakurawa has its roots in neighbouring Niger and that it turned extra energetic in Nigeria’s border communities after a 2023 navy coup. Kwara borders Niger state, which is focused more and more by armed teams and is a hotspot the place ISWAP and different armed teams have stepped up village assaults and mass kidnappings. The violence raises fears that jihadist factions from the north are pushing south.

The navy has intensified operations in opposition to jihadists and armed bandits and usually claims to have killed big numbers of fighters. It stated final month that it had launched “sustained coordinated offensive operations in opposition to terrorist parts” in Kwara state and achieved notable successes.

Insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation has been underneath intense scrutiny in latest months because the US president, Donald Trump, alleged that there was a “genocide” of Christians occurring in Nigeria. The declare has been rejected by the Nigerian authorities and plenty of impartial consultants, who say the nation’s safety crises declare the lives of Christians and Muslims, typically with out distinction.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, unknown gunmen killed not less than 13 folks in Doma village within the north-western state of Katsina, a police spokesperson stated.