President Bola Tinubu has ordered the deployment of a military battalion to parts of Kwara State following a deadly attack on Kaiama Local Government Area that left scores of residents dead.
The decisive security intervention includes the appointment of a field commander and the immediate commencement of a military operation code-named Operation Savanna Shield.
The directive was disclosed on Wednesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956.
Onanuga said the President’s action was aimed at providing immediate relief to affected communities and restoring peace and security in the area.
“Help is on the way for the beleaguered people of Kaiama and others as President Tinubu orders the deployment of a military battalion, the appointment of a commander and the start of Operation Savanna Shield,” the post read.
The federal intervention follows a brutal attack on Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area, where armed bandits reportedly invaded the rural settlement on Tuesday, killing scores of residents.
According to reports, 78 bodies were recovered after the attack. The victims were buried on Wednesday evening following funeral prayers (janazah) held around 6:30 p.m., shortly before the magrib prayers.
The lawmaker representing Gwanabe/Gwaria constituency in the Kwara State House of Assembly, Saidu Baba Ahmed, who witnessed the burial rites, confirmed the casualty figures. He said the victims included 75 males and three females, adding that 35 residents were abducted and taken into the bush by the attackers.
Meanwhile, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq visited Kaiama on Wednesday night, accompanied by security chiefs and senior government officials.
In a post on his X handle @RealAARahman, the governor described the killings as a massacre of local Muslims who resisted extremist indoctrination.
“75 local Muslims were massacred simply for refusing to surrender to extremists who preached a strange doctrine,” AbdulRazaq said, describing the scale of brutality in the once-peaceful community located about 100 kilometres southwest of Ilorin, the state capital.
Reacting to the attack in a statement issued late Wednesday night, President Tinubu condemned the incident, describing it as a “cowardly and beastly attack.”
According to the statement signed by Onanuga, the President expressed outrage that the attackers targeted community members who rejected extremist beliefs.
“President Tinubu expressed rage that the attackers killed the community members who rejected their obnoxious attempt at indoctrination, choosing instead to practice Islam that is neither extreme nor violent,” the statement said.
He commended the victims for refusing to embrace violent extremism despite being Muslims.
“It’s commendable that the community members, even though Muslims, refused to be conscripted into a weird belief that promoted violence over peace and dialogue,” the President said.
Tinubu urged close collaboration between federal and state authorities to provide support for affected residents and ensure that the perpetrators of the attack are brought to justice.
He also prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased, condoled with bereaved families, and extended his sympathies to the people and government of Kwara State.
The launch of Operation Savanna Shield is expected to reinforce federal security presence in the area, stabilise affected communities, and prevent further attacks as residents continue to mourn the tragic loss of lives.
