Mahmuda terror group on Monday night invaded Desa, also known as Ilesha Baruba, in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, killing eight persons.
The terror group killed five Fulani vigilantes, a Fon man from southern Benin Republic and a Baatonu native of the town in a night market that was bustling with young men of different ethnicities having a good time and cold-bloodedly murdered eight innocent souls.
An American- based scholar, Professor Farooq Kperogi on Wednesday said on his Facebook page that the bandits were “masked in military fatigues, armed bandits shot sporadically at the town’s night market that was bustling with young men of different ethnicities having a good time and cold-bloodedly murdered eight innocent souls.”
Mr Kperogi who hails from the area said, “the terrorists began their rampage by brutally executing a Fulani man who was a member of the local vigilante. Multiple gunshots splattered his brains across the ground in a shockingly repellent spectacle of blood and tissue.
“Five other Fulani people were gunned down. Tragically caught in the crossfire were also a Fon man from southern Benin Republic and a Baatonu native of the town.
“Eyewitness accounts said the assailants themselves were Fulani (based on the language they spoke). And they neither kidnapped nor stole.”
“Why did they kill fellow Fulani men? The Fon man and the Baatonu man appeared to be unintended targets. Was this just bloodthirsty nihilism? Did the Fulani men, who were integrated into the local community, betray the terrorists? Everyone is mystified.”
He recalled that “two days before the horrific events in Desa, ominous messages from the terrorists had spread across Baruten and Kaiama, imposing a curfew slated to begin at 10 p.m.
“Yet even before it could be enforced, the terrorists struck unannounced, extinguished precious lives and spread dread.
“This escalation leaves the people of Borgu in a state of disabling siege and fear. They have been robbed of the peace they once cherished.”
The scholar called for urgent intervention, saying “the urgency for decisive, meaningful action to restore safety and peace has never been more critical.”
Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State on Wednesday led a delegation of top military and intelligence chiefs to visit Kaiama to assess the security concerns and reinforce inter-agency collaboration across border communities.
He said “strategic security interface” with the Emir of Kaiama, Alhaji Muazu Shehu Omar and other critical stakeholders, revealed that it was a reprisal attack by non-state actors targeting vigilantes.
The spokesperson of Kwara State Police Command Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, has denied that the terrorist group was in the state, adding that the reported killing of 15 vigilantes by the group was not true.
“Our comprehensive and continuous threat assessments, intelligence surveillance and tactical reconnaissance operations in these areas have yielded no evidence of insurgent activity, coordinated terrorist formations, or mass casualty incidents as described.
“The claim of 15 vigilantes being killed is entirely false and devoid of any factual basis,” she added.
