United States-based journalism professor and Kwara indigene Farooq Kperogihas alleged that Boko Haram-linked terrorists who massacred at least 170 people in Woro community, Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, appeared to have informants within the security forces.
In a detailed Facebook post written with visible emotional distress, Kperogi who hails from neighbouring Baruten LGA described the attack as one of the most brutal assaults on his ancestral region, claiming the death toll has reached 170 and is still rising.
According to Kperogi and local accounts, the massacre was triggered when the district head of Woro, Alhaji Salihu Umar, reported a letter from the terrorists (locally known as “Mamuda”) to security authorities. The letter reportedly informed the community that the group would visit on an unspecified date to “preach.”
Suspicious of the group’s intentions, the village head alerted the relevant agencies. However, residents now believe the terrorists were quickly informed of the report, leading to a retaliatory rampage.
“It turned out, however, that the terrorists appeared to have informants among the security forces the village head reported to. At least that’s what the people believe,” Kperogi wrote.
He stated that the attackers, enraged by the exposure, launched a sustained assault beginning Tuesday evening and continuing into Wednesday morning. The gunmen allegedly rounded up villagers, executed them, burned homes, looted properties, and abducted several residents using the district head’s personal SUV during the operation. The whereabouts of Alhaji Salihu Umar remain unknown.
Kperogi shared that private messages and media from locals showed “slaughtered and mutilated bodies of innocent men, women and children” lying in pools of blood—images that left him “immobilized” and emotionally shattered.
“This is not the first time the Mamuda terrorists have done such a thing in that community,” he noted, recalling previous attacks in Woro and surrounding areas.
The professor linked the violence to a broader pattern of terror across the Borgu axis, spanning Kwara, Niger, and Kebbi states. He recalled that “hundreds of innocents” were massacred on the Niger State side of Borgu in recent weeks.
“What kinds of homicidal beasts spill innocent blood just for the hell of it?” Kperogi asked.
He urged the federal and state governments to urgently strengthen security across the entire Borgu region, warning that failure to act decisively would allow the attackers to continue targeting rural communities.
“The government must act to stop this insensate cruelty once and for all. Security must be beefed up across the entire Borgu area, from Kebbi through Niger to Kwara,” he demanded.
Addressing potential misrepresentations of the violence, Kperogi emphasized that the victims were overwhelmingly local Muslims who refused violent extremist indoctrination.
“Just in case the screwdriver salesman who feeds rightwing Americans stories about ‘Christian genocide’ is tempted to use Google to ‘verify’ that the innocents murdered in Borgu are Christians, they are Muslims. All deaths should worry anyone who makes even the slightest pretense to humanity,” he wrote.
The Woro massacre has intensified public outrage and renewed questions about intelligence leaks, border security, and the effectiveness of ongoing counterterrorism operations in north-central Nigeria.
