The only safe road linking Maiduguri, the Borno state capital to the rest of the country; Maiduguri-Damaturu highway was ambushed by the Boko Haram terrorist for the fourth time in a week, as security operatives battle to prevent Eidel Fitri holiday travelers from driving into the trap.
The villagers claimed that 15 persons were killed on Tuesday 14/07/2015 night in an ambush.
This comes barely 48 hours after they attacked Mainok town in Borno state, where 30 persons died from the attack and most part of the village was burnt. Boko Haram terrorists on Wednesday, July 14, returned to attack the villagers again.
Warsala village located on the boundary between Borno and Yobe states, in North-East Nigeria was attacked on Tuesday night. It is just one of many communities along the Kano-Maiduguri highway,attacked by insurgents in the past week including Ngamdu; not more than 5km away, Mainok, a village located along the same highway and about 40km away from Warsala.
A government worker named Hamza Baba, travelling the route said he drove through a village practically deserted
Baba said “The trucks were attacked and burnt by Boko Haram terrorists who shot their driver.
“A villager, who had luggage on his head and standing by the road side to catch a vehicle to Damaturu, informed me that the attack took place at about 8pm when the gunmen arrived Warsala shooting sporadically. He said eight persons were found dead this morning and that he had to flee because the gunmen said they would still be back.
“Another trailer conveying commodities to Maiduguri was attacked, and the driver killed early this morning in Ngamdu village about 2 kilometres away from Warsala, which is a village under Yobe state.
“This has forced the village to start fleeing their homes en mass this morning. I saw more than 3000 of them leaving; many were trekking, some were conveyed in trucks. The Damaturu-Maiduguri highway is becoming a dead zone; this is the fourth attack this week from Monday. I wonder why intensive patrol measures is not being launched to stop this.”
On Monday 13/07/2015, reports from the attacked town of Mainok in Kaga local government areas of Borno state, indicated that at least 30 persons were killed, and many others injured by rampaging Boko Haram terrorists, security sources said.
Though soldiers have been deployed to Benisheik town, 85km from Maiduguri, to specifically guard the only bridge along the highway, residents have said the only relatively safe route might be taken over by the terrorists.
Yahaya Garba, a Maiduguri-based automobile mechanic said: “If that happens, we are doomed in Maiduguri, because that is the only surviving road that thousands of travellers ply daily.”
Meanwhile, leader of the Muslims in Nigeria, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has said the Boko Haram sect was out to destroy Islam in the country.
Abubakar, who is also the Sultan of Sokoto and president general, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) made this known on Monday night, July 13, during a Ramadan dinner he hosted for members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Sokoto state chapter.
