Boko Haram abducts 35 along Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway

Barely one week after suspected Boko Haram fighters kidnapped two aid workers travelling from Damaturu to Maiduguri, and later used the aid workers’ Facebook account to allege that they had killed them and “their corpses would never be found,” they struck again last Friday taking away 35 commuters along the same route.

Earlier on Friday, security sources informed that the terrorists staged a surprise attack on travellers at about 11 a.m., and the incident was considered unusual given the time.

The insurgents at about 5 p.m. of the same day, returned to the highway and mounted a roadblock at Garin Kuturu a town called near Jakana.

A sources, which said one of the insurgent’s first victims was a truck belonging to Dangote Group, whose driver was shot after which the vehicle was set ablaze.

“The insurgents who were dressed in military uniforms drove out of the bush in five Hilux vans…and later waylaid nine commercial vehicles” and whisked away from the passengers into the bush, said the witness.

“Many of the passengers fled into the bush, but about 35 of them were abducted. Two private vehicles and one truck were also set ablaze. Nine other passenger vehicles belonging to the abducted travellers were also abandoned at the scene while their properties were looted,” a senior military source informed.

Danbatta Bello, a spokesman for the Civilian-JTF, while confirming the incident to an online medium said that “the situation along Maiduguri-Damaturu highway has gone out of control – the attacks have become a daily affair.

“Though we have deployed our personnel in the Rapid Response Squad to patrol the road, especially the identified flashpoints, the insurgent would still spring a surprise attack on other unusual spots of the highway,” he said.