The Kaiama Development Association and the Batombu Unity and Development Initiative have urged both the federal government and the Kwara State Government to urgently rescue the 176 persons abducted during the February 3 attack on Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The groups warned that the worsening insecurity across Kaiama and Baruten LGAs could degenerate into a full-scale insurgency if urgent action is not taken.

Speaking on behalf of the groups during a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, the President of the KDA Abuja Branch, Alhaji Umar Gunu, observed that the security situation in the two local government areas had reached a critical stage, with more than 500 people reportedly killed since the beginning of 2026, thousands displaced and several communities repeatedly attacked by terrorists and armed bandits.

Gunu said the press conference became necessary because the communities could no longer remain silent while residents continued to suffer attacks, displacement and neglect.

“We have chosen to address you directly because our communities can no longer afford to remain silent and invisible. Today, however, we speak not only of neglect but of an unfolding humanitarian and security catastrophe that has devastated our communities,” he said.

Gunu noted that although Kaiama and Baruten account for more than half of Kwara State’s landmass and remain one of its most productive agricultural belts, the communities had suffered decades of neglect and remained the only two local government areas without direct road access to Ilorin, the state capital.

According to him, the poor road network has further compounded the security crisis by slowing the movement of security personnel while providing armed groups with opportunities to launch attacks and retreat into surrounding forests.

“Our poor road infrastructure has compounded this crisis. The deplorable condition of the roads isolates our communities and creates a significant operational advantage for terrorists,” he said.

“While security forces struggle to reach affected areas quickly, armed groups navigate the difficult terrain with relative ease, enabling them to strike repeatedly and retreat into the forests before help can arrive. Better roads are no longer simply a development issue; they are an urgent security imperative.”

The group’s spokesperson recalled that terrorists attacked Woro and neighbouring Nuku communities on February 3, killing more than 200 residents and abducting over 170 others, including women, nursing mothers and children.

He lamented that nearly six months after the incident, families of the victims had yet to receive any meaningful information about their loved ones or evidence of sustained rescue efforts.

“The attack on Woro remains one of the darkest chapters in our recent history. On the night of February 3, 2026, terrorists descended on Woro and neighbouring Nuku, killing well over 200 people and abducting more than 170 others, among them women, nursing mothers, and children.

“Since then, we have received no meaningful update on their condition or whereabouts, and we have seen no evidence that any sustained operation has been mounted to bring them home. Nearly six months on, their families still wait, uncertain whether their loved ones are alive or dead, while the trail to their rescue appears to have gone cold.”

He lamented that the violence has spread to several other communities, including Tungan Maje, Kemanji, Tungan Aboki, Karonji, Sekugbe, Kenugbe and Yashikira, where armed men reportedly invaded the Emir’s palace and abducted his wives and children.

According to him, the persistent attacks had displaced thousands of residents, crippled economic activities and forced many farmers to abandon their farmlands.

“As we speak, hardly a day or two now passes without our communities suffering one attack or another.

“The consequences are devastating. Communities now live under the constant fear of spontaneous attacks.

“Economic activities have been severely disrupted: markets have collapsed, businesses have closed, children have lost access to education, and healthcare has become increasingly difficult to obtain.

“The socio-economic fabric of our communities is steadily unravelling,” he bemoaned.

The KDA president who also warned that the crisis had evolved beyond ordinary banditry into a dangerous combination of organised terrorism and criminal violence, stressed that intelligence reports from local communities suggested links between some of the attackers and jihadist groups operating across Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.

“We are deeply concerned that the violence confronting our communities has evolved beyond ordinary criminality. What our people are living through today is a hybrid threat: the calculated, ideologically driven violence of jihadist networks operating side by side with the opportunistic criminality of armed bandits,” he disclosed.

“Our situation can no longer be treated as an isolated local security problem. It bears disturbing similarities to the early stages of the insurgency that engulfed North-East Nigeria and banditry in the North-West. Unless urgent, coordinated, and decisive action is taken, there is a real danger that this region could become another entrenched theatre of violent extremism,” Gunu pointed out.

He expressed fears that political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections could overshadow the worsening security situation, alleging that some elected representatives had remained silent over the crisis.

“We are also deeply worried that, as campaigns and electioneering for the 2027 general elections gather pace, our people risk being entirely forgotten.

“We say clearly: no election cycle, and no political calculation, should be allowed to bury the crisis unfolding in Kaiama and Baruten.”

As a result, Gunu urged the federal government, the Kwara State Government, the National Assembly, security agencies and humanitarian organisations to act urgently by rescuing the 176 Woro abductees, securing the release of the wives and children of the Emir of Yashikira, dismantling terrorist camps around the Borgu Game Reserve, providing humanitarian support for displaced persons, rebuilding destroyed communities and rehabilitating strategic roads linking Kaiama and Baruten with Ilorin.

“We therefore call on the federal government, the Government of Kwara State, the National Assembly, the security services, humanitarian agencies, and the international community to act with urgency,” he pleaded.

Gunu maintained, “The people of Kaiama and Baruten are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for what every Nigerian is entitled to: security, dignity, equal citizenship, and the protection guaranteed by our Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Our communities should not remain invisible because they are remote. Our suffering should not be ignored because we are minorities. The time to act is now, before more lives are lost, more communities disappear, and more of our people are forgotten.” (The PUNCH)

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