ABUJA, Feb 5, (Xinhua): At least 75 bodies have been recovered after gunmen attacked two villages in Nigeria's central Kwara State earlier this week, local officials said late Wednesday. Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who visited Kaiama Local Government Area on Wednesday night with security chiefs and cabinet members, said 75 people had been killed in the Woro and Nuku communities.

A senior military officer who accompanied the governor on an on-the-spot assessment of the affected villages said the death toll could rise as search-and-rescue operations continued. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has identified the Boko Haram terror group as being responsible for the attacks and ordered the deployment of an army battalion to Kaiama Local Government Area, said a statement by the State House late Wednesday.

Tinubu condemned "the cowardly and beastly attack" and described the gunmen as "heartless for choosing soft targets in their doomed campaign of terror." The new military command will spearhead "Operation Savannah Shield" to "checkmate the barbaric terrorists and protect defenseless communities," according to the statement quoting the Nigerian leader.