EXCLUSIVE: ‘I Watched As My Church Members Were Gunned Down’: Kwara Pastor Narrates February Terrorist Attack In Woro

Pastor Adesoji Dada Aderemi of Divine Evangelical Mission Church, Woro community in Kwara State, has recounted the horrifying moment terrorists invaded his church during an evening Bible study, opened fire on worshippers and turned the quiet village into what he described as “a horror film scene.”

Speaking with SaharaReporters nearly four months after, the visibly traumatised cleric narrated how the February 3, 2026 attack shattered his congregation, left corpses littered across the community and forced survivors to flee into surrounding forests for safety.

“The 3rd of February, 2026 would remain tortuous to me for a long time because we had just begun our weekly Bible studies when the terrorists arrived between 6:30pm and 7:00pm,” Pastor Aderemi said.

“The next thing was that gunshots rented the air. What followed was chaos as I watched in confusion to see some members of my congregation fall to the bullets, then blood flowing everywhere.”

According to him, worshippers scrambled for safety through church windows as panic and confusion engulfed the area.

“Those of us who escaped through the windows could not fathom what was going on,” he said emotionally. “It was a typical horror film scene.”

The pastor recalled how frightened residents ran blindly into the bush while gunfire echoed across the village for several hours.

“As we ran haywire without any sense of direction, I occasionally turned back to see if they were chasing us as gunshots persisted,” he recounted. “In the process, I saw flames rising from our church.”

“That night, like many others from Woro, I slept on a tree-top,” he added. “Surprisingly, the firing continued until around 3:30am.”

He said by sunrise, the full scale of the massacre became clear.

“By daybreak proper, dead bodies were all over our village,” the pastor said. “In my church alone, there were nine corpses.”

Pastor Aderemi further disclosed that since the attack, many displaced residents have refused to return home over fears that the terrorists could strike again.

“Ever since, it has been difficult to return and rebuild the church because it always feels like they could return at any moment,” he lamented. “The security situation is still fragile.”

“My focus now is to find life elsewhere because the trauma is too heavy,” he continued quietly. “Especially considering that I recently buried my wife before the attack.”

The cleric said the attack destroyed not just buildings and livelihoods, but the once peaceful existence of the Christian community in Woro.

“One moment, I was preaching the word of God and people were saying ‘Amen’; the next moment we heard gunshots everywhere,” he said.

“At first, we thought maybe it was far away, but within seconds people started screaming that terrorists had entered the community.”

“The whole place suddenly turned into confusion and darkness,” he added. “Children were crying uncontrollably, women were falling while running, people abandoned their shoes, Bibles and belongings just to stay alive.”

“I saw members of my church running into the forest in different directions. Some could not even find their children in the chaos,” the pastor said. “It was like the end of the world.”

Lamenting the destruction left behind, Pastor Aderemi said years of ministry and communal peace were wiped away overnight.

“Everything was going well before that night,” he said. “Our church was growing; the community was peaceful and people were happy. Now everywhere is empty, people are scattered and fear has taken over our lives.”

“I buried my wife thinking that was the greatest sorrow I would ever face,” he added. “I never imagined that shortly after, I would lose my church, my home and almost my entire community to terrorists.”

The Woro attack once again highlights the worsening insecurity spreading across Nigeria’s North Central region, particularly along the volatile Kwara-Niger-Kogi axis, where armed groups, suspected terrorists and bandits have increasingly established deadly footholds.

For years, security experts and local residents have warned that forest corridors linking parts of Kwara State to Niger and Kogi states have become safe havens for heavily armed criminal gangs and extremist elements fleeing sustained military operations in Nigeria’s North-East and North-West regions.

Communities in border areas have repeatedly reported attacks, kidnappings, killings and mass displacement, while residents accuse authorities of failing to provide adequate security presence despite repeated warnings.

The worsening violence has also heightened fears that terrorist activities once largely concentrated in the North-East are steadily expanding deeper into North Central Nigeria, threatening rural communities already battling poverty, displacement and weak security infrastructure.

In recent months, several communities across Kwara State have reportedly witnessed repeated incursions by armed groups, forcing villagers to abandon homes, farms and businesses amid growing fears of fresh attacks.

Despite repeated assurances from government officials and security agencies, many residents say they now live in constant fear, with entire communities deserted after deadly raids by gunmen.

For Pastor Aderemi and survivors of the Woro attack, however, the scars remain fresh.

“We can no longer sleep peacefully,” he said. “Every unfamiliar sound now takes us back to that night.”