Fresh grief has enveloped Kwara State’s Kaiama Local Government Area after armed bandits launched a deadly assault on Woro and Nuku villages, claiming the lives of at least 40 residents, including a prominent nursing student and his brother. The attack, which unfolded on the evening of 3 February 2026, underscores the creeping menace of banditry into north-central Nigeria, a region increasingly vulnerable to cross-border raids from neighbouring states.
Court documents and police reports from the Kwara State Command confirm that the assailants, believed to have infiltrated from Borgu forests in Niger State, struck around 6:00 pm, firing indiscriminately, torching homes, and abducting several villagers. Eyewitness accounts relayed through official channels describe how the bandits overran the communities, binding residents and executing them in cold blood. By the following day, soldiers and forest guards had secured the area, as detailed in statements from local authorities, while recovery efforts uncovered a rising body count amid smouldering ruins.
Among the victims was Salihu Bio Khalid, a midwifery student at the Kwara State College of Nursing Sciences in Ilorin and former president of the institution’s Student Union Government. Public records from the college and student associations portray Khalid as a dedicated advocate for student welfare, whose leadership had fostered unity during his tenure. His brother also perished in the raid, amplifying the personal toll on families already reeling from the violence. The National Association of Nigerian Comrades (NANC), Kwara Axis, issued a public statement mourning the loss: “Senator Salihu Bio Khalid’s contributions to the student movement will remain indelible in our collective memory.” The group urged divine solace for the bereaved, adding, “We pray Almighty God grants the departed eternal rest and gives the bereaved family and the entire student community the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”
Conflicting reports on the death toll highlight the chaos of such incidents. Initial assessments from local sources, as reported by the Nigerian Red Cross Society, pegged fatalities at around 67, but this surged to over 100 following a secondary assault early on 4 February, exploiting poor road access. A Red Cross official, Babaomo Ayodeji, told international media that the count stood at 162 by Wednesday afternoon, including women and children. Politician Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, speaking from the scene alongside military personnel, estimated 170 deaths, with attackers having razed shops and the traditional ruler’s palace. Kwara State Police and government officials attributed the raid to “terrorist elements,” though no group has claimed responsibility.
The Kwara State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, condemned the violence in an official release, calling it a stark reminder of regional insecurity. He advocated for heightened military operations along the Niger State border to “flush out criminal elements” and stressed community cooperation with security forces. Similarly, Senator Saliu Mustapha of Kwara Central Senatorial District described the incident as a “senseless act” in a press statement, pressing for additional troop deployments and urging unity and vigilance among residents.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Kwara State chapter echoed these sentiments in its communique, labelling the attack “despicable, inhuman and callous.” The party demanded immediate humanitarian aid, relief materials, and medical support for survivors, while insisting on swift investigations to prosecute the perpetrators. These responses reflect a broader call for action amid growing concerns that banditry, once confined to Nigeria’s northwest, is now infiltrating quieter states like Kwara.
This incursion fits into a troubling historical pattern of banditry in Nigeria, rooted in longstanding herder-farmer conflicts that escalated around 2011. According to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), bandit attacks were sporadic between 2010 and 2017, peaking at 64 incidents in 2014. However, from 2018 onward, the violence surged dramatically: 124 attacks in 2018, climbing to 1,031 by 2022. ACLED estimates attribute 13,485 deaths to banditry between 2010 and mid-2023, with a 731% increase in community assaults in the northwest during that period. The conflict originated from ethnic tensions between Fulani herders and Hausa farmers in states like Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto, where resource scarcity over grazing lands and water fueled militancy. Jihadist elements and criminal gangs exploited the chaos, forming loose alliances for raids, kidnappings, and extortion.
By the mid-2020s, intensified military crackdowns in the northwest—such as air and ground operations in Zamfara that killed over 100 gang members in August 2025—pushed bandits southward. Kwara’s vast forests, bordering Niger State and Benin Republic, became ideal hideouts, as noted in security analyses from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Bandits relocated here for proximity to southern markets for rustled cattle and to evade pressure in their traditional strongholds. In Kwara, incidents have risen sharply: from isolated kidnappings in 2023 to major assaults like the 2025 church attack in Eruku, where three worshippers died and 38 were abducted, linked to bandit incursions.
National statistics paint a grim picture. The National Human Rights Commission reported at least 2,266 killings by bandits or insurgents in the first half of 2025 alone, exceeding the entire 2024 tally. Between 2019 and early 2024, northwest Nigeria saw 9,527 kidnappings—62% of the national total—with bandits as primary culprits. In Kwara and neighbouring north-central states, fragility stems from porous borders and under-resourced policing. A 2023 study by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research highlighted how bandit groups operate in mobile, motorcycle-mounted units, striking quickly and retreating to forests. Victims often face not just death but displacement: 63% of surveyed northwest residents reported family members attacked, with abduction and physical assault predominant.
Kwara’s vulnerability is compounded by its geography. Kaiama, a rural expanse with limited infrastructure, has seen bandits preach against the Nigerian Constitution in nearby Niger villages before striking, as per local intelligence shared with media. The state’s student communities, like KWASCONS, now grapple with heightened fears, prompting calls for fortified security around campuses and transit routes.
As investigations continue, the Kaiama attack remains a contested narrative, with death tolls evolving and no arrests announced. Official records from the Kwara government emphasize ongoing probes, but the incident risks deepening communal divides if unaddressed. For now, it serves as a stark indicator of how banditry’s tentacles, born from decades of neglect in resource conflicts, continue to strangle Nigeria’s stability.
