SOKOTO, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen killed at least 20 people in a village in western Nigeria, the Red Cross said Wednesday, the latest in a surge of attacks that has plagued the West African country.
Hundreds of armed men attacked the village of Woro in the state of Kwara on Tuesday evening, Ayodeji Emmanuel Babaomo, the Red Cross secretary in Kwara state, told The Associated Press.
“Based on the information we have received, scores of people were killed but we don’t have an exact number yet,” he said.
Babaomo said the Red Cross has been unable to reach the affected communities because they are in a remote area — about eight hours from the state capital and near Nigeria’s border with Benin.
Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in statement released Wednesday the attack was a “cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells” in response to ongoing military operations against armed extremists in the state. He did not provide a figure for the number of people killed. State police did not comment.
Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis, with an insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the northwest and north-central regions over recent months. Intercommunal violence is also prevalent in the central states.
In a separate attack on Tuesday, gunmen killed at least 13 people in the village of Doma in the northwestern state of Katsina, police spokesman Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu said in a statement Wednesday.
Investigations were underway to determine the circumstances and identify those responsible, he added.
Last week, armed extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 36 people during separate attacks on a construction site and on an army base.
On Tuesday, the head of U.S. Africa Command said the United States had sent a small team of military officers to Nigeria, the latest step in its response to the security crisis. In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on a cell affiliated with the Islamic State group in Nigeria.
Nigeria has been in the diplomatic crosshairs of the U.S. following threats by President Donald Trump to attack the country, alleging it is not doing enough to protect its Christian citizens.
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Shibayan reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Associated Press writer Afolabi Sotunde contributed to this report.
By TUNDE OMOLEHIN and DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN
Associated Press
