Gunmen kill nearly 200 in Nigeria’s Kwara and Katsina attacks

Nearly 200 people have been killed by armed men in separate attacks in remote villages in central and northern Nigeria, a local lawmaker, residents and police said Wednesday, as security forces searched for survivors and chased the attackers.

In central Kwara state, gunmen attacked the community of Woro on Tuesday, leaving at least 170 people dead, the lawmaker for the area, Saidu Baba Ahmed, said by phone.

It was the deadliest assault recorded this year in the district bordering Niger state, an area increasingly targeted by gunmen who raid villages, kidnap residents and loot livestock.

Ahmed said the gunmen rounded up residents, bound their hands behind their backs and summarily executed them. The lawmaker shared photographs of dead bodies with Reuters, which the agency was not immediately able to verify.

Villagers fled into surrounding bushland during the attack, he said. The gunmen torched homes and shops.Police said that “scores were killed,” without specifying the number.