Titus Eleweke, South East Editor
AWKA, Anambra – Renowned Nigerian human rights lawyer and Lead Counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has described the killing of over 162 innocent Nigerians in Woro Village, Kwara State, as not merely a tragedy but a monumental moral collapse of the Nigerian state.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday and titled “A Nation Bleeding: The Genocidal Massacre of Over 162 Innocent Citizens in Kwara State and the Urgent Need for Immediate State Action,” Ejiofor said Nigeria must confront the disturbing question of whether the lives of its citizens still hold any value within the corridors of power.
According to him, when death on such a massive scale becomes possible, predictable, and recurrent, the failure can no longer be described as accidental. Rather, it is systemic, profound, and deeply shameful.
Ejiofor condemned, in the strongest and most unequivocal terms, what he described as the barbaric and genocidal massacre of over one hundred and sixty-two innocent Nigerians in Woro Village, allegedly carried out by armed bandits and jihadist terrorists.
Ejiofor who is Dunu-Ezeugosinachi, Oraifite stressed that the atrocity represents far more than a breakdown of Nigeria’s security architecture.
“The incident constitutes a crime against humanity, an unambiguous act of terrorism, and a damning indictment of the Nigerian state’s inability or worse, unwillingness to safeguard human life,” he said.
The human rights lawyer called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently invoke his constitutional powers to declare a state of emergency in Kwara State, arguing that the gravity of the situation leaves no room for hesitation.
“The delay in taking decisive action is long overdue. This is not a political manoeuvre, but a moral, constitutional, and existential necessity,” “The scale, coordination, and sheer savagery of this massacre incontrovertibly demonstrate that conventional security responses have failed. Extraordinary threats demand extraordinary action.”Ejiofor stated.
He further rejected any attempt to characterise the killings as random or spontaneous criminal violence, insisting that the attack was deliberate, calculated, ideologically driven, and terror-induced.
“This massacre bears the unmistakable hallmarks of jihadist expansionism steadily encroaching upon western Nigeria and other parts of the country,” “To trivialise or sanitise such horrors under the convenient label of ‘banditry’ is to insult the memory of the dead and embolden the perpetrators of these crimes.”Ejiofor warned.
The statement reads:
There comes a moment when casualty figures cease to be statistics and become an indictment. Woro Village marks such a moment. The killing of over 162 innocent Nigerians is not merely a tragedy; it is a moral collapse. It is the point at which a nation must confront the unbearable question of whether the lives of its citizens still carry weight in the councils of power. When death on this scale becomes possible, predictable, and recurrent, the failure is no longer accidental, it is systemic, profound, and shameful.
I condemn, in the strongest, clearest, and most unequivocal terms, the barbaric and genocidal massacre of over one hundred and sixty-two innocent Nigerians in Woro Village, Kwara State, carried out by armed bandits and jihadist terrorists. This heinous atrocity goes far beyond a failure of security architecture; it constitutes a crime against humanity, an unambiguous act of terrorism, and a damning indictment of the state’s inability, indeed, unwillingness, to safeguard human life.
That defenceless men, women, and children could be methodically slaughtered in such staggering numbers within a sovereign republic ought to jolt the conscience of the nation to its very foundations. We have crossed a perilous moral threshold. The grim arithmetic of death has become routine. The counting of corpses is now treated as an administrative exercise. What was once shocking has become familiar. This is a national tragedy of the highest order, and it is wholly unacceptable.
Let it be stated plainly and without euphemism: this was neither random violence nor a spontaneous outbreak of criminality. It was calculated, ideologically driven, and terror-induced. It bears the unmistakable hallmarks of jihadist expansionism steadily encroaching upon western Nigeria other parts of the country. To trivialise or sanitise such massacres under the convenient label of “banditry” is to insult the memory of the dead and embolden those who perpetrate these crimes.
Nigeria now stands accused, not merely by its citizens, but by history itself, of counting the deaths of its own people through denial, inertia, and fatal hesitation. When more than 160 lives can be extinguished in a single community and the nations responds with bureaucratic platitudes, and weary resignation, then the sanctity of human life has been dangerously devalued.
This moment calls not for rhetoric, but for resolve; not for condolences, but for courage; not for routine responses, but for decisive and extraordinary measures.
Accordingly, I call upon the President to urgently invoke his relevant constitutional powers to declare a state of emergency in Kwara State. The gravity of the situation unmistakably demands such decisive action, and the delay in doing so is now long overdue, though not as a political manoeuvre, but as a moral, constitutional, and existential necessity. The scale, coordination, and savagery of this massacre incontrovertibly demonstrate that ordinary security responses have failed. Extraordinary threats demand extraordinary action.
Furthermore:
1. There must be an urgent and reinforced deployment of security and intelligence assets to Kwara State and its adjoining regions.
2. A transparent, independent, and time-bound investigation must be conducted, with its findings made public.
3.The Federal Government must abandon evasive language and formally acknowledge the terrorist and ideological character of these attacks, confronting them with the seriousness they demand.
4.The families of the victims must receive immediate humanitarian relief, adequate compensation, and sustained long-term support, far beyond perfunctory expressions of sympathy.
Let it be understood: silence in the face of mass slaughter is no longer neutrality. Minimisation is no longer caution. Bureaucratic language is no longer restraint. They have all become forms of complicity.
Nigeria must now decide, urgently, clearly, and without moral ambiguity, whether the lives of its citizens still matter. History will show no mercy to indifference, and posterity will not absolve excuses.
The dead of Woro Village demand more than tears.
They demand truth.
They demand courage.
They demand action—now.
