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Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, governor of Kwara, says the recent attack on communities in the state was the handiwork of Islamic fundamentalists.
On Wednesday, at least 75 residents were killed, with several houses set ablaze, when terrorists attacked the Nuku and Woro communities in the Kaiama LGA of Kwara state.
Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, police spokesperson in Kwara, said the attack began at about 6pm on Tuesday.
Afterwards, Rauf Ajakaye, chief press secretary to the Kwara governor, told TheCable that the victims, who were moderate Muslims, were killed for “refusing to surrender to extremists who preached a strange doctrine”.
Addressing religious and security leaders at the Kwara government house, the governor said residents of the communities were killed for refusing to bow to extremists.
“From the information we’ve been getting, this village refused to succumb to a perverted form of Islamic doctrine,” Abdulrazaq 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.”
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the deployment of an army battalion in the affected LGA following the attack.
In a statement issued on Wednesday night, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, quoted Tinubu as saying the new military command will spearhead “Operation Savannah Shield” to “checkmate the barbaric terrorists and protect defenceless communities”.
Onanuga noted that the president “condemned the cowardly and beastly attack” and described the gunmen as “heartless for choosing soft targets in their doomed campaign of terror”.
