Danjuma Bagu, one of the survivors of the de@dly attack on the Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, said he has been unable to reach his family.
Speaking with Daily Trust, he disclosed that he has not heard from his wife and six children, several days after gunmen stormed the community.
The incident occurred last Tuesday. Community leaders and residents said on Sunday that the de@th toll had risen to 150, as search and rescue efforts were still ongoing.
Bagu, who is receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to the thigh at the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASUTH), stated that he fled during the attack and has lost contact with his family.
“As I speak with you now, I don’t know if my wife and six children are alive. I have not heard from them since Tuesday, after the incident. I also lost my phone,” he said.
Bagu explained that the attackers, numbering about 200 and riding motorcycles, invaded the community and began shooting sporadically.
He appealed to the government to assist victims of the attack, saying they had been left with nothing.
Another survivor, Joshua Dame, a farmer from Plateau State, told the aforementioned publication how he narrowly escaped.
“I am from Plateau State, but I came to farm in Kaiama,” Dame said.
According to him, he was on his way from the farm to town when he encountered the attackers.
“I was in the farm around 10 in the morning. Later, around 3pm, I needed to go to town to buy detergent to use on the farm. I called my friend, whom I farm with, and while we were on our way, we suddenly saw people wearing army uniforms, numbering about 200, heavily armed and on motorcycles. They filled the whole place,” he said.
Dame said the gunmen opened fire immediately.
“They shot my friend and k!lled him instantly. A bullet entered my stomach, came out through my right side and broke my right hand,” he narrated.
He said he pretended to be de@d after being shot.
“I heard one of them saying it appeared I was not de@d and that they should pump more bullets into me, but they later left. They went away with my motorcycle and moved into the town, k!lling and burning everything in sight,” he said.
Badly wounded, Dame said he crawled into the forest and hid until soldiers rescued him the following morning.
“I crawled inside the forest from when I was shot till the time the army came over, 8 hours in the pool of my blood, and tried to keep my voice low despite the pain because I don’t know whether they are still around. I don’t know how I survived, honestly. It was the army that took us to Kaiama Teaching Hospital before we were later brought here,” he said.
