Tragedy struck Duruma village in Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State, on Tuesday morning, as members of the newly emerged terrorist group known as “Mahmuda” attacked the community, killing three villagers.
Sources reveal that the terrorists exploited a security gap created by the absence of local hunters, who are currently undergoing training in Ilorin for the newly established National Forest Guard—a security initiative recently approved by the presidency to protect vulnerable rural communities.
Despite the deployment of soldiers in the flashpoint areas surrounding the affected communities, the insurgents carried out this brutal attack with devastating consequences.
The three victims were reportedly buried immediately by the community in the aftermath of the violence.
Recall that in April, the Chief of Army Staff visited the areas, following which soldiers were deployed to the thick forests to flush out the terrorists, during which twelve of them were arrested.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who also visited the troubled communities, reportedly provided Twenty-five motorcycles to the local hunters as logistics to complement the efforts of the soldiers.
Vanguard, however, gathered from the locals that members of the terrorist group never left the areas, but have been incapacitated by the presence of the soldiers and local hunters who have been providing support for the military.
According to a local who resides in Baruten,but preferred that his name shouldn’t be in print,”Our local hunters are currently in ilorin for the training of the National Forest Guard on how they can also be effectively using weapons to fight the terrorists.
“Eventually, Mahmuda people felt their absence because they are no longer in the areas they used to be,so It was in those areas that the terrorists killed the three villagers.
“Though the soldiers eventually came to the areas firing gun shots in the air,but they have fled.
” A week before now, they also set fire to a farm settlement,” he recounted .
Other affected areas where the terrorists are troubling our people include Kemaanji, Tenebo, Baabete, Nuku, and Nanu in Kaiama Local Government Area, as well as villages in Yashikira District, Baruten Local Government Area—both in Kwara State.
Vanguard also gathered from the locals that the group has seized control of communities in Babana and Wawa Districts in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
“As I am talking to you, our community, Kemanji, is under the control of these people. They have not entered the main Kaiama town, and that was how it started in Sokoto, Kebbi and other states. Our community is about 10 kilometres from Kaiama,” another source said.
Multiple sources also revealed that the group has seized control of communities in Babana and Wawa Districts in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
It was recently reported that Mahmuda is a new terror group emerging in Nigeria’s North Central region, terrorizing residents of rural communities near Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP).Nigerian cultural tours
Meanwhile, attempts to get reaction from the state police command for were perpetually unsuccessful, as Spokesperson SP Toun Ejire-Adeyemi did not respond to calls on her mobile phone
