Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway Of Death
The 130-kilometre road linking Maiduguri with Damaturu is a major access route to the Borno State capital from most parts of Nigeria.
But the stretch between Auno and Jakana, not far from the state capital, has become a death trap for travellers who are frequently targeted by insurgents, Daily Trust reports.
Hundreds of people have been ambushed and killed while other abducted by Boko Haram terrorists along the Damaturu-Maiduguri Highway in the last 10 years as the activities of the insurgents have turned the vast road into a death trap.
The highway is the only major link into the Borno State capital as other roads, including the Gwoza-Bama-Maiduguri and the Biu-Damboa-Maiduguri have been deserted by commuters because of frequent attacks by the insurgents.
The recent security breach was the abduction of at least 35 travellers on Friday, December 18, 2020, when gunmen ambushed commuters along the road.
Sources said over forty attacks had been carried out on the highway last year.
Drivers and passengers attribute the constant attacks on the road partly to the incomplete dualisation of the highway from Kano to Maiduguri.
The contract was awarded during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to them, the uncompleted sections of the road, particularly the Damaturu to Maiduguri stretch, were yet to be completed and had since become launch pads for Boko Haram attacks on travellers, especially on the stretch between Auno and Jakana, and in some cases, up to Mainok.
In February, 2020, the insurgents attacked travellers stranded in Auno after the military had closed the road for the day and killed 30 persons, abducted many and torched about 20 vehicles, some with passengers in them.
The road is patrolled frequently by the military operatives who also have several checkpoints on the route.
Commuters told Daily Trust that the attacks happened after the military patrols had ended for the day, especially between 04:30 and 05:00pm, leaving many travellers dead or missing.
Some travellers who managed to escape said the attacks were mostly in the “evening when the sun is descending.”
A driver who evaded an attack near Jakana on his way to Maiduguri, said it was a horrible experience.
The driver said, “My fuel truck was carrying over 9,000 gallons of petrol when the armed men blocked the road one evening during the wet season.
“Many other trucks and busses were stopped a few kilometres to Jakana.
“They (insurgents) asked me to drive the truck off the road along a bush path, and I told them the vehicle would get stuck in the mud, but they refused to heed my advice.
“A few meters into the bush, the truck got stuck in the mud.”
He explained that the insurgents then siphoned fuel from his tank into jerry cans and drove away in their vehicles loaded with stolen valuables and foodstuff which were being conveyed to the capital and set one vehicle on fire, adding that he thereafter trekked to Jakana.
Abdullahi Bawuro, a taxi driver, had two encounters with the insurgents.
“In one of the incidents, he recalled bullets missing him by inches.
Bawuro said, “I cannot remember the exact dates of the attacks, but they certainly happened over a year ago.
“On the first occasion I was carrying two passengers in my car to Maiduguri on that day around 10:00am and a few kilometres to Mainok from Damaturu, the engine developed some mechanical issues and the passengers joined another vehicle and left.
“While I was waiting for assistance from other drivers, I heard gunshots; which forced several vehicles to turn back.
“A driver moving in the opposite direction stopped to warn that my life was in danger because the insurgents had stormed the area. He helped and towed my car back to Damaturu.”
Following assurances by other commuters that the attack had ended, Bawuro said he embarked on another journey to Damaturu on the same day at around 03:00pm.
He explained that, “To my dismay, the car’s accelerator became jerky and the engine stopped, but this time, a few metres after Auno.
“Again, as I waited for an auto mechanic, I heard gunshots and saw trucks moving towards the road from the bush with people inside shooting.
“Some men hiding in trees close to me climbed down and one of them asked what I was doing there and I said my vehicle had a problem and they said I should stay where I was.
“Later, a truck carrying the armed.”
Source: Daily Trust
