On February 4, 2026, armed militants from the Lakurawa jihadist group launched coordinated assaults on the remote villages of Woro and Nuku in Kwara State, western Nigeria, killing at least 162 people in one of the deadliest attacks the country has seen this year.
Local lawmaker Mohammed Omar Bio, representing the affected area, confirmed the death toll to international media, describing how gunmen rounded up residents, bound their hands, and executed them. Homes, shops, and the palace of the traditional ruler were set ablaze, forcing survivors to flee into the surrounding bush. Some sources, including Amnesty International observers cited in early reports, suggest the actual number of fatalities could exceed 170.
Residents told journalists that the attackers had previously visited the villages to preach, demanding that locals abandon allegiance to the Nigerian state and submit to strict sharia law. When community members resisted during a sermon on Tuesday evening, the militants opened fire indiscriminately.
The Lakurawa group, known locally as an affiliate of the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), has roots in the Sahel region, particularly Mali and Niger. Nigerian authorities say the group gained a stronger foothold in northwest and west-central Nigeria after the 2023 military coup in Niger disrupted cross-border security cooperation. Once tolerated or even welcomed by some communities as a counter to banditry, Lakurawa has grown increasingly radical, imposing taxes, flogging residents for minor infractions, and attacking those who defy its authority.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq described the massacre as a “cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells” in retaliation for recent military operations, including airstrikes that reportedly killed dozens of militants in late 2025. The remote location of the villages—roughly eight hours from the state capital and near the Benin border—has delayed full access for rescue and recovery teams.
Nigeria continues to grapple with overlapping security crises: a long-running Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency in the northeast, widespread banditry and mass kidnappings in the northwest, and the emerging threat of Sahel-based jihadist groups like Lakurawa in border regions. Despite military offensives and occasional international support, vast rural areas remain vulnerable, with civilians bearing the heaviest cost.
As recovery efforts begin and bodies are still being counted, the Woro and Nuku attacks serve as a stark reminder of the escalating jihadist threat spilling across West Africa’s porous borders.