The Kwara Police Command has confirmed that at least 75 people were killed in the recent attack on communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed this on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme.
“The present toll of casualties that we have from that dastardly act that happened on the 3rd of February at about 17:30 hours is 75. Investigations are still ongoing, and we will continue to update members of the public as necessary,” she said.
According to her, the Kwara State Police Command was promptly informed after the incident, following which the Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, ordered an immediate deployment to the affected communities.
She explained that the location of the attack posed a challenge, noting that the affected area is about two hours from the divisional headquarters in Kaiama.
“When this incident happened, the Kwara State Police Command was informed accordingly, and the Commissioner of Police deployed personnel immediately to that community. Police personnel, alongside the military and the National Forest Guard, moved in almost immediately after the incident,” she said.
Responding to concerns that the attackers may have been in the community for some time before launching the assault, the police spokesperson said investigations were ongoing.
“The police are still investigating the information that the perpetrators had probably stayed in that town for a while before carrying out that dastardly act. It is really an unfortunate incident, and we are working tirelessly to ensure that such an event does not occur again,” she stated.
She added that ongoing clearance operations in Kwara and neighbouring Kogi State had disrupted the activities of armed groups in recent weeks.
