The Mahmuda terror group has reportedly killed three persons in a fresh attack on Duruma village in Kwara North senatorial district of the state on Tuesday morning.

According to local sources, the attack occurred while the community's local hunters were away in Ilorin, the state capital, attending a national forest guard training program approved by the presidency. The training aims to enhance security capabilities for community members in the region.

The three victims were reportedly slaughtered by the terrorists and immediately buried by community members. This brutal attack took place despite the presence of military personnel deployed to flashpoint areas in the affected communities.

Military Presence Insufficient to Deter Attacks

In April, the Chief of Army Staff visited the troubled areas, after which soldiers were deployed to the thick forests to flush out the terrorists. This operation reportedly led to the arrest of 12 suspected terrorists. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq also visited the affected communities and provided 25 motorcycles to local hunters to support military efforts.

However, locals disclosed that members of the terrorist group never completely left the areas but were temporarily incapacitated by the presence of soldiers and local hunters.

"Our local hunters are currently in Ilorin for the training of the National Forest Guard on how they can also use weapons effectively to fight the terrorists," a local resident in Baruten, who requested anonymity, told BenriNews.

"Eventually, Mahmuda people felt their absence because they were no longer in the areas they used to be, so it was in those areas that the terrorists killed the three villagers. When the soldiers eventually came to the areas, firing gunshots in the air, they fled," the source added.

Expanding Terrorist Control

The resident also revealed that a week before this attack, the terrorists set fire to a farm settlement. Other affected areas include Kemaanji, Tenebo, Baabete, Nuku, and Nanu in Kaiama Local Government Area, as well as villages in Yashikira District, Baruten Local Government Area.

Another source expressed concern about the growing control of the terrorists: "As I am talking to you, our community, Kemanji, is under the control of the terrorists. They have not entered the main Kaiama town, and that was how it started in Sokoto, Kebbi and other states. Our community is about 10 kilometres from Kaiama."

Multiple sources also revealed that the group has seized control of communities in Babana and Wawa Districts in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

Mahmuda is a new terror group emerging in Nigeria's North Central region, primarily terrorizing residents of rural communities near Kainji Lake National Park. Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the state police command on Tuesday regarding this development were unsuccessful.