President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigerian Army to deploy a full military battalion to Kaiama and surrounding areas of Kwara State in response to a deadly terrorist attack that claimed dozens of lives, ordering an immediate security operation to stem further violence.
The presidential directive includes the appointment of a field commander and the rollout of a new military campaign code-named Operation Savanna Shield, aimed at restoring stability in the affected communities.
The development was disclosed on Wednesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the intervention was designed to bring urgent relief and reassert security control in the area.
In a post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956, Onanuga announced the decision, stating: “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 order followed reports of a fresh atrocity in the area, where dozens of local residents were killed after rejecting the ideology of extremists who invaded their communities.
Also posting on X, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (@RealAARahman) said he visited Kaiama late Tuesday night alongside security chiefs and senior government officials.
“75 local Muslims were massacred simply for refusing to surrender to extremists who preached a strange doctrine,” the governor said, describing the scale of violence unleashed on the area, a hub in Patigi Local Government Area located about 100 kilometres southwest of Ilorin, the state capital.
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Federal intervention came in the wake of a brutal raid on Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area, where residents recovered the bodies of 78 people killed by armed assailants who stormed the village on Tuesday.
The victims were buried on Wednesday evening after funeral prayers (janazah) held at about 6:30 p.m., shortly before the evening (magrib) prayers.
The lawmaker representing Gwanabe/Gwaria constituency in the Kwara State House of Assembly, Saidu Baba Ahmed, who was present at the burial, confirmed the casualty figures.
He said the dead comprised 75 males and three females, adding that 35 other residents were abducted and taken into the bush by the attackers.
With the launch of Operation Savanna Shield, federal authorities are expected to reinforce security presence, stabilise the troubled communities and prevent further attacks, as residents continue to grieve those lost in the raid.
In a statement issued late Tuesday night, President Tinubu strongly condemned the violence, describing it as inhumane and senseless.
According to the statement released by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, the President “condemned the cowardly and beastly attack and described the gunmen as heartless for choosing soft targets in their doomed campaign of terror.”
The statement added that “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.
“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,” he said.
The President called for close cooperation between federal and state authorities to support the affected communities and ensure that those responsible for the killings are brought to justice.
He also offered prayers for the deceased, expressed condolences to grieving families, and extended sympathy to the people and government of Kwara State.
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