Terror struck Ilesha Baruba in Kwara as armed men killed 8. Farooq Kperogi reflects on the personal toll and calls for urgent action to save Nigeria’s rural communities.
Insecurity Hits Home: Terror in Kwara Leaves a Historic Land Reeling
On the night of April 21, just as the town clock neared 9 p.m., terror gripped Desa known more formally as Ilesha Baruba in Kwara State’s Baruten Local Government Area. This is not just any town for me; it lies just minutes from my hometown, and the events that unfolded there have hit closer to home than I ever imagined.
In the space of minutes, armed men cloaked in military-style gear unleashed a wave of gunfire on a busy night market, killing eight people without warning. The market was full of young people from different backgrounds, enjoying what should have been another quiet evening. Instead, they were met with the sound of bullets and chaos.
Gunmen Kill 6 in Ilesha Baruba as Kwara Police Launch Crackdown on Banditry
The killings were chilling in their precision and brutality. The attackers began by executing a Fulani vigilante member in a gruesome manner, his skull shattered by bullets. Then they shot and killed five more Fulani men. A Fon man from southern Benin Republic and a Baatonu man from the town were also slain collateral victims in what seems to be a deeply unsettling act of violence.
But what makes this atrocity more painful is how little sense it makes. Reports from those present suggest the attackers spoke Fulfulde—the Fulani language—which indicates they were themselves Fulani. Yet their targets included their own. They took no hostages. They stole nothing. What, then, was the purpose of this slaughter?
Speculation runs rampant. Were the local Fulani victims seen as traitors for cooperating with the community or with authorities? Or was this a senseless, nihilistic show of power and terror?
In recent months, the entire Borgu region has been living under the growing shadow of a new terrorist group known as Mahmuda. First seen in Kebbi and Niger states, they have now extended their reach into Kwara my home. In fact, they have spread throughout what used to be collectively known as Borgu.
This region isn’t just a collection of names on a map. Borgu is a storied, multicultural land that once flourished as a confederation of powerful kingdoms. It stretches across present-day Baruten and Kaiama LGAs in Kwara, Borgu and Agwara in Niger, Bagudo and Dandi in Kebbi, and even into Borgou and Alibori departments in Benin Republic. That unity was dismantled by colonial powers, but the cultural bonds remain strong.
Today, however, those communities are bleeding.
The terrorists first found safe haven in the dense foliage of Kainji Lake National Park and the borderlands between Benin and Burkina Faso. But in 2024, they began infiltrating Kaiama and Yasikiru in Baruten, sparking fear among residents.
When local people bravely reported the presence of these gunmen, the initial response from authorities brought a flicker of hope. Security operatives raided camps, seized weapons, and dismantled hideouts. But the retaliation that followed was swift and merciless.
The people of Borgu have now become targets—not of mere violence, but of strategic, blood-soaked vengeance. Children, the elderly, and women have all fallen victim to what can only be described as a systematic assault on rural communities.
Earlier this week, the Governor of Kwara State visited Kaiama in a show of solidarity and reassurance. But barely had his motorcade disappeared than terrorists struck again. More people died. More homes were shattered. The visit, it seems, only provoked the killers into new waves of violence.
To make matters worse, just two days before the attack in Desa, terrorists had circulated messages warning locals of an impending 10 p.m. curfew an announcement that added to the fear. Yet before the deadline even arrived, the attackers moved in, striking ahead of their own warning.
Now, the entire Borgu axis lives in a state of siege. Where once there was quiet pride and coexistence, now there is silence filled with dread.
For me, this is no longer just a news story. This is personal. The pain, the fear, the loss they belong to me, to my people, to a land that once stood proud and united.
We cannot afford to stand by any longer. What is unfolding in Kwara, and across Nigeria’s rural north, demands a bold and urgent response. Terrorism is no longer a distant threat. It is at our doorsteps. It is inside our homes. It is stealing lives in the dark.
The Federal Government must rise to meet this crisis—not with platitudes, but with decisive, humane, and far-reaching action. The people of Borgu deserve more than sympathy. They deserve peace.
