The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State has strongly criticised Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s response to a recent bandit attack in the Woro and Nuku communities of Kaiama Local Government Area, saying his reaction was “cosmetic” and lacked substantive support or reassurance for victims of the violence.
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Ilorin, the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, faulted what it described as a superficial official reaction to the raids, which left at least 10 residents dead, several houses burnt and residents fleeing into the bush.
According to the PUNCH, armed assailants struck the two border communities late on Tuesday night, killing villagers and destroying properties in a brazen assault that compounded growing fears of insecurity across parts of Kwara State.
Describing the attack in strong terms, the PDP said the violence was “gruesome, despicable, inhuman and callous,” and particularly lamented the loss of the life of a former students’ union president from a tertiary institution in the state. “This is a wicked act that no human should ever inflict on fellow human beings,” the party said in the statement.
The opposition party accused Governor AbdulRazaq of downplaying the severity of the security challenge and failing to offer tangible reassurance to residents reeling from the attack. Adewara said the governor’s official communication amounted to little more than “propaganda, photo-ops and hollow sympathy messages” that did not address the traumatic impact on victims or outline immediate support measures.
“This incident is yet another reminder that what Kwara urgently needs is decisive, practical and people-oriented leadership,” the PDP statement read, urging that effective measures, beyond official condolences, be taken to support affected communities.
Adewura added that the official response so far was “merely cosmetic and completely lacking in hope or concrete reassurance for the wounded victims and the devastated community.”
The PDP argued that a genuinely responsive government would have immediately deployed humanitarian relief and medical emergency services to assist victims, help cope with trauma, and begin rebuilding shattered lives. “A responsible government would have ordered the immediate deployment of humanitarian relief and medical emergency services to assist the victims and help the community cope with this painful tragedy,” it stated.
In a further sharp rebuke, the party accused the governor of presenting a “distorted picture of the security situation” in Kwara State, saying insecurity remained widespread despite government assurances of progress against insurgents and bandits.
The statement asserted, “As at press time, citizens are still being kidnapped and villages continue to suffer attacks, despite repeated claims that insurgents are being decimated.”
The PDP has called on the state government to urgently deploy humanitarian aid, relief materials and medical support to the communities affected by the banditry, while also urging security agencies to intensify efforts to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
As the party expressed solidarity and sympathy with the people of Woro and Nuku, it extended its condolences to the Emir of Kaiama, Alhaji Omar Shehu Muazu, Kiyaru II, and prayed for the eternal repose of the deceased and lasting peace across Kwara State.
The PDP’s critique comes amid wider concerns over escalating banditry and violence in the state’s border communities, where residents and opposition figures have repeatedly decried what they see as insufficiently robust security measures by the state government and federal agencies alike.
