National Union of Road Transport Workers threatens to suspend transportation of goods to the southeast if Indigenous People of Biafra continue to brutally kill truck drivers from the north. 

The National Union of Road Transport Workers in Borno State in Nigeria’s northeast has threatened to suspend the transportation of goods to the southeast of the country if “senseless and barbaric attacks” on truck drivers continue.

They say more than 50 drivers have lost their lives and hundreds of trucks carrying goods such as cattle, grains and perishable items have been set alight or looted.

The attacks – carried out by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – have occurred in the southeastern part of the country.

The Association of Truck Drivers, along with the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a quasi-political and socio-cultural association which seeks to promote the political interest of people of northern Nigeria, condemned attacks saying they were “totally unacceptable”.

They called for an immediate investigation.

IPOB attacks on northern truck drivers

“The attacks are being brazenly carried out by armed men and women who openly claim membership of terror groups such as IPOB and the Eastern Security Network [ESN]. The attacks are directed only at northerners and northern-owned property,” said Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF’s national publicity secretary.

IPOB is a separatist group in Nigeruia that aims to restore the defunct Republic of Biafra, a country which seceded from Nigeria in 1967 prior to the Nigerian Civil War and was subsequently dissolved following its defeat in 1970.

“The terror merchants have continued to double down on the savage attacks, even posting video clips of the results of their gruesome actions – with gleeful taunts – on social media.

“The frequency and severity of the attacks have reached alarming levels. We have lost more than 50 drivers. Some were killed, many are still missing. Hundreds of trucks have been set alight, damaged or looted or forcefully taken away from driver,” said Tukur.

Janedu Ahamad Zaki, the Plateau State coordinator of heavy trucks, said: “Between January and December 2024 alone, in communities in Imo State, more than 20 drivers were brutally killed and their trucks either burnt or damaged. Some bodies were recovered, others remain missing.”

He cited a recent attack on Tuesday, January 28, when four drivers — Haruna Jibril, Bala Muhammad, Dalladi Jafaru and Auwal Muhammad — were ambushed between Lokpanta in Imo State and Umuahia in Abia State while transporting tomatoes to Port Harcourt.

He said all four were killed and their trucks were emptied by the assailants.

“The perpetrators, after unloading the tomatoes, filmed the empty truck and sent the videos to us to confirm that they had killed the victims. When we called them to release the bodies, they told us to forget about them.”

Truck drivers protest

On Sunday, March 2, drivers and owners of trucks conveying goods from the north to the southeast held a protest in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, against “the incessant killing” of their members by suspected IPOB members.

Drivers carried placards with inscriptions such as “Enough is enough”, “End the carnage, ensure smooth passage of northern truck drivers” and “We are united against violence, protect all drivers regardless of origin”.

“For the past eight years, truck drivers from northern Nigeria have been consistently targeted, killed and had their trucks destroyed or burnt while transporting goods to the southeast. We are still trying to understand what offence we have committed to deserve this kind of barbaric killing,” said Mahmud Jafar, who led the protesters.

He said that more than 20 drivers had been brutally killed and their trucks burnt or damaged in the Ehobey, Okigwe and Isoche local government areas of Imo State from January to December 2024.

Truck drivers angry and concerned

Umar Muhammad Shuwa, chairman of the Association of Truck Drivers in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, expressed deep concern about the attacks on colleagues in the southeast.

“Our drivers travel across southern states and cities such as Umahia, Lagos, Abia, Awka, Bayelsa, Owerri and Benin.”

Shuwa urged the federal government to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice to ensure unity, peace and stability between northerners and southerners.

Abubakar Yusuf, a truck driver in Borno State, said: “I convey goods from the north to several southern states such as Lagos, Rivers, Imo and Delta. It has become increasingly evident that IPOB members regularly attack northern drivers in the southeast.

“If we drivers attempt to resist them, they have no compunction or scruples, they kill us. The hatred is too much! They do not trust us simply because we come from the northern part of the country.”

IPOB attacks threaten national security

The ACF warned that the killings of truck drivers and the destruction of their vehicles constituted a serious threat to national security, which could lead to the breakdown of law and order and “generalised anarchy”.

It emphasised the need for the government and relevant security agencies to halt such acts to ensure national security, peace and unity.

IPOB press release

On Monday, March 3, IPOB released a statement saying its members had been “falsely accused”.

“IPOB and ESN members are not violent and do not engage in attacking or killing people. We cannot confirm any attack and killing of truck drivers in the southeast region. We assume that such a claim by the sponsored protesting drivers in Plateau State is unfounded.

“Let’s assume that such an incident happened, why will IPOB members or ESN operatives attack innocent truck drivers conveying goods to our region? Do the so-called attacked truck drivers pose any threat to the IPOB’s movement?

“What exactly is the crime of IPOB against the Nigerian government and the other state actors in Nigeria? IPOB’s only crime against the Nigerian State is our demand for self-determination via a referendum. IPOB is peaceful and a people-oriented freedom movement for Biafra restoration.”

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO