Kaiama and Baruten Must Not Be Forgotten”: KDA and BUDIA Cry Out Over Escalating Violence in Kwara Border Communities

The Kaiama Development Association and the Batombu Unity and Development Initiative have called on the Federal Government, Kwara State Government and the international community to intervene urgently in Kaiama and Baruten Local Government Areas of Kwara State, warning that the region is sliding into a full-blown humanitarian and security crisis.

Addressing journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of both groups, Professor Umar Ishiaku Semo, said the people of Kaiama and Baruten can no longer afford to remain silent.

“We have chosen to address you directly because our communities can no longer afford to remain silent and invisible,” he said.

According to him, Kaiama and Baruten constitute one half of the old Borgu region, and though they account for more than half of the entire landmass of Kwara State, they remain politically and developmentally neglected. He said the two local governments are the state’s agrarian heartland and have long served as a food basket, yet by every economic, political and social indicator they remain the most peripheral parts of the state.

“Our physical isolation reflects our political and developmental neglect. Kaiama and Baruten remain the only two local government areas in Kwara State without direct road access to the state capital, Ilorin. To reach our own state capital, we must travel either south through Oyo State or north through Niger State,” he said.

Professor Semo said that beyond neglect, the communities are now facing what he described as a catastrophe. He disclosed that since January 2026, community records show that more than 500 people have been killed, entire villages destroyed and livelihoods wiped out. He recalled the February 3 attack on Woro and Nuku as one of the darkest moments, stating that “terrorists descended on Woro and neighbouring Nuku, killing well over 200 people and abducting more than 170 others, among them women, nursing mothers, and children.”

“Since then, we have received no meaningful update on their condition or whereabouts, and we have seen no evidence that any sustained operation has been mounted to bring them home. Nearly six months on, their families still wait, uncertain whether their loved ones are alive or dead,” he said.

He added that the violence has continued. On July 21, 2026, Tungan Aboki was attacked and a prominent local businessman was killed. In Baruten, communities including Karonji, Sekugbe, Kenugbe and Yashikira have suffered repeated attacks. He said the assault on Yashikira was especially brazen as “armed men invaded the palace of the Emir, ransacked and desecrated it, and abducted his wives and children.”

“Thousands of people have also been displaced from their ancestral homes. Entire settlements have been emptied as families flee repeated attacks, abandoning their farms, homes, schools, and places of worship. What was once a thriving agricultural landscape has become a zone of fear and uncertainty,” he stated.

Professor Semo said the situation is worsened by the Borgu Game Reserve, which he noted has become a sanctuary for armed groups. He said farmers around the reserve have abandoned fertile farmland, worsening food insecurity and poverty. He also blamed bad roads for aiding the attackers, saying the poor road network gives terrorists an operational advantage while security forces struggle to respond quickly.

“We are deeply concerned that the violence confronting our communities has evolved beyond ordinary criminality. What our people are living through today is a hybrid threat: the calculated, ideologically driven violence of jihadist networks operating side by side with the opportunistic criminality of armed bandits,” he said.

He said intelligence from communities points to links with groups operating elsewhere in Nigeria and the wider Sahel, including JAS, ISWAP, Lakurawa and JNIM, while many other attacks remain the work of criminal gangs seeking ransom. “Our situation can no longer be treated as an isolated local security problem. It bears disturbing similarities to the early stages of the insurgency that engulfed North-East Nigeria and banditry in the North-West,” he warned.

With the 2027 elections approaching, he expressed fear that the plight of Kaiama and Baruten would be pushed further to the margins. “We are also deeply worried that, as campaigns and electioneering for the 2027 general elections gather pace, our people risk being entirely forgotten. No election cycle, and no political calculation, should be allowed to bury the crisis unfolding in Kaiama and Baruten,” he said.

The groups demanded the immediate and unconditional rescue of the 176 persons abducted in Woro and the wives and children of the Emir of Yashikira, coordinated security operations to dismantle terrorist camps within and around the Borgu Game Reserve, humanitarian assistance for displaced persons, reconstruction of destroyed communities, and immediate rehabilitation of roads linking Kaiama and Baruten directly to Ilorin. They also called for a clear security strategy that confronts both jihadist networks and banditry, and an assurance that elected leaders from the area will be free to speak without fear of political reprisal.

While acknowledging government efforts, including the recent approval of additional army divisions with one to be headquartered in Kwara State, Professor Semo said the people were only asking for equal rights.

“The people of Kaiama and Baruten are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for what every Nigerian is entitled to: security, dignity, equal citizenship, and the protection guaranteed by our Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

“Our communities should not remain invisible because they are remote. Our suffering should not be ignored because we are minorities. Our voices should not be silenced because they are inconvenient. The time to act is now, before more lives are lost, more communities disappear, and more of our people are forgotten.”