The driver of a pick-up truck and his conductor were killed, and one passenger wounded, when they rode over an improvised explosive device (IED) on the Damboa-Maiduguri highway in Borno State on Saturday, February 12.

RNI reporter Alkali Mustapha spoke to another driver, Mustapha Modube, who said: ‘’The driver was riding down the highway when the truck hit an IED. It immediately detonated, killing the driver and his conductor. A passenger was wounded and is being treated in hospital.”

The highway has been closed for two years because of frequent attacks by insurgents. But drivers still use it, sometimes escorted by troops.

‘’Early in the morning, drivers and passengers gather at the Kala Motor Park on the outskirts of Damboa. They wait for other drivers from the nearby towns of Chibok, Askira-Uba and Mubi to join them and for troops to escort them to Maiduguri,’’ Modube said.

But, he said, the recent frequency of IED explosions had created “a nightmare” for drivers who often use the highway even though it is supposed to be closed to traffic.

“We depend on the highway to transport passengers. It is our only means to make a living. But these recent explosions have made it a life and death risk. They are huge problem for all of us drivers,” he said.

A similar incident occurred on Thursday, February 10, on the outskirts of Dikwa. A man was looking for firewood when he came across and unusual object covered by sand. He hit the object, which turned out to be an IED, repeatedly with a stick. It detonated and the man was blown to pieces.

 AISHA JAMAL