One of the survivors of the deadly attack on Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, Danjuma Bagu, said he has not heard from his wife and six children, several days after gunmen stormed the community.
The incident occurred last Tuesday. Community leaders and residents said on Sunday that the death toll had risen to 150, as search and rescue efforts were still ongoing.
Bagu, who is receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to the thigh at the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASUTH), told Daily Trust that he fled during the attack and has since been unable to establish contact with his family.
“As I speak with you now, I don’t know if my wife and six children are alive. I have not heard from them since Tuesday, after the incident. I also lost my phone,” he said.
Bagu, who said he is from Jos and had come to Woro for farming, explained that the attackers, numbering about 200 and riding motorcycles, invaded the community and began shooting sporadically.
He appealed to the government to assist victims of the attack, saying they had been left with nothing.
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Another survivor, Mr Joshua Dame, a farmer from Plateau State, also spoke to Daily Trust from his hospital bed at KWASUTH, narrating how he narrowly escaped.
“I am from Plateau State, but I came to farm in Kaiama,” Dame said.
According to him, he was on his way from the farm to town when he encountered the attackers.
“I was in the farm around 10 in the morning. Later, around 3pm, I needed to go to town to buy detergent to use on the farm. I called my friend, whom I farm with, and while we were on our way, we suddenly saw people wearing army uniforms, numbering about 200, heavily armed and on motorcycles. They filled the whole place,” he said.
Dame said the gunmen opened fire immediately.
“They shot my friend and killed him instantly. A bullet entered my stomach, came out through my right side and broke my right hand,” he narrated.
He said he pretended to be dead after being shot.
“I heard one of them saying it appeared I was not dead and that they should pump more bullets into me, but they later left. They went away with my motorcycle and moved into the town, killing and burning everything in sight,” he said.
Badly wounded, Dame said he crawled into the forest and hid until soldiers rescued him the following morning.
“I crawled inside the forest from when I was shot till the time the army came over, 8 hours in the pool of my blood, and tried to keep my voice low despite the pain because I don’t know whether they are still around. I don’t know how I survived, honestly. It was the army that took us to Kaiama Teaching Hospital before we were later brought here,” he said.
Meanwhile, community leaders said on Sunday that casualty figures from the attack had risen to 150.
The village head of Woro, Alhaji Salihu Bio Umar, said he was yet to hear from his wife and children, as well as others believed to have been kidnapped.
“Nobody has called us to ask for anything so far,” he said.
“The additional figures are that 37 Muslim victims were buried on Thursday, in addition to the earlier 75 bodies already interred, while one more body was discovered on Saturday.
“We have also recorded 21 Christian corpses, eight Togolese nationals and eight Hausas from Zakirai, a Hausa group,” he said.
He added that “over 100 persons were still missing and believed to have been kidnapped.
“The Emir directed that I compile their names, and this is what we have arrived at so far. I will let you know the total figures once the compilation is completed,” he said.
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Another resident, Dr Abdul Woro, said three additional bodies were discovered on Friday.
“We saw two burnt bodies inside a house that was set ablaze and another body in the forest,” he said.
He added that there was the smell of decomposing bodies in the forest and that the community was still searching, noting that while security operatives remained in the area, the community was largely deserted.
The publication reports that with the recovery of one additional body on Saturday, the official and documented death toll from the Woro attack has risen to 150, according to community leaders.
The figure includes 113 Muslim victims, 21 Christians, 8 Togolese nationals and 8 Hausas.