ABUJA: At least 170 people have died following an armed attack by militants on a remote village in Kwara State in central Nigeria, Reuters reported. Saidu Baba Ahmed, a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, told Reuters in a phone interview that the armed individuals detained villagers, bound their hands behind their backs, and then shot them. According to him, some villagers fled to nearby bushes when the attack began, and several remained missing by the following morning. Reuters adds that during the assault, the militants also set fire to homes and shops in the village. Some local residents informed Reuters that the gunmen had demanded that the villagers renounce their loyalty to the Nigerian government and follow Sharia law. When the villagers refused this demand, the militants opened fire during Tuesday’s prayers. The Nigerian police have announced that police and military forces have been dispatched to the area to conduct search and rescue operations. Islamist militants have repeatedly attacked villages in Nigeria in recent years, killing or abducting civilians. In a recent incident in January, a village in northern Nigeria was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 30 people and the abduction of several others.
