Armed men have killed at least 35 people and burned homes and shops in Woro, a remote village in Nigeria’s north-central Kwara State, authorities said.
“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 the AFP news agency on Wednesday.
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“Many others escaped into the bush with gunshots,” Ahmed said, adding that more bodies could be found.
It was the deadliest assault this year in the district bordering Niger State, which armed gangs have attacked increasingly.
Villagers fled into the surrounding bushland as the armed men attacked Woro, Ahmed told the Reuters news agency by phone. Several people were still missing, he said.
The attack was confirmed by police, who did not provide casualty figures. The state government blamed the attack on “terrorist cells”.
Banditry and armed attacks on rural communities have surged across northwest and north-central Nigeria in recent years as gangs raid villages, kidnap residents and loot livestock.
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