10 Killed In Another Boko Haram Bloodbath On Borno Road

By Ibrahim-Gwamna Mshelizza

No fewer than 10 passengers and motorists have been killed by Boko Haram terrorists along Maiduguri- Damaturu road, while 7 vehicles abandoned by their occupants have been seized.

Maiduguri- Damaturu road has remained a death trap with series of ambushes,especially last year when more than 50 passengers and motorists were killed and their vehicles set ablaze in a single ambush.

Our Correspondent gathered that "the gunmen suspected to have come from Sambisa Forest going to a new destination attempted to cross the busy road on Thursday evening, and on sighting vehicles they ordered the drivers of the two vehicles to stop, but when the drivers refused they opened fire on the front and back tyres forcing the drivers to stop.

"Immediately when the terrorists rushed to the ill-fated vehicles, they opened fire on the occupants before using knives to slaughter 10 of them on the spot". The source said.

The source said, some motorists upon sighting the danger on the road made u -turn and drove back to Maiduguri, while others found their way back to Beneshiekh and Damaturu, where they intimated security operatives on the incident.

He added that, although, the security operatives responded swiftly by mobilizing to the scene where they succeeded in killing some of the terrorists in an exchange of gunfire, others fled into the bush.

A driver who escaped the ambush, Mallam Yakubu Aliyu who confirmed the incident to our Correspondent at the Borno Express Terminus, he said " I was with my passengers on the way to Damaturu, the Yobe state capital when I sighted some people with ak47 rifles by the side of the road few metres away, initially I thought they were security personnel in plain clothes, but when I discovered that the place was not a routine security check points, I quickly made a u-turn with the passengers back to Maiduguri, in fact, as I am talking to you now, the road has been blocked/barricaded by military operatives and all vehicles heading towards Damaturu or Maiduguri have been asked to go back to where they came from as operation is still ongoing on the road". Aliyu said.

When contacted on phone for confirmation, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin said he was not aware of the incident, but a top security source confirmed the incident, he said, "10 people were killed while some vehicles were siezed on Maiduguri- Beneshiekh road by suspected terrorists on Thursday evening".