Senator urges federal government to wake up from its slumber, address the root causes of the insurgency and deploy technological warfare ‘including drones to end this madness’. 

Two soldiers have been killed and several others wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the Damboa district of Borno State in Nigeria’s northeast.

Among the wounded is the new brigade commander (name withheld) of Operation Hadin in the Damboa Local Government Area.

The blast occurred on Tuesday, March 25, when a convoy of soldiers and other security operatives, including members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), drove over and detonated an IED on the Maiduguri-Damboa-Bui road.

‘Horrible incident’

A member of the CJTF, who asked to remain anonymous, said the convoy was on its way to Wajirko in the Damboa district to provide reinforcement after insurgents attacked the army base in the village on Monday, March 24.

“On our way to Wajirko, one of the vehicles in the convoy drove over an IED that had been planted on the Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road.

“Unfortunately, two soldiers died instantly. Several others, including the new brigade commander, were wounded.

“The horrible incident occurred at around 8pm.

“Three soldiers are in a critical condition despite having received medical treatment at the Maimalari military barracks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State,” he said.

“The reinforcement convoy comprised soldiers and other security operatives, including CJTF members.

“After the IED blast, the convoy proceeded to Wajirko village where we exchanged heavy fire with insurgents and managed to chase them away,” he said.

Military bases under attack

Heavily armed insurgents, thought to be members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, raided the Wajirko military base in Damboa on Monday, March 24.

Insurgents simultaneously ambushed an army base in the Nigeria-Cameroon border town of Wulgo in the Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State.

The Wulgo army base comprises multinational troops from Nigeria and Cameroon.

The CJTF member told Ndarason that insurgents had raided Wajirko on several occasions, despite the heavy presence of military and other security operatives.

“For now, the security situation in the village is better but the soldiers are on high alert. There are no residents in the village, only soldiers at the military base.”

Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road

The raids on the military bases and the IED blast come at a time when the Borno State government is working to reopen the 185km Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road, which has remained unsafe for motorists and passengers for years.

Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum has been trying for a long time to reopen the road, which connects five local government areas to the state capital, Maiduguri.

“The Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu highway has been closed and motorists are banned using it for security reasons. Only some locals who live in villages along the highway are allowed to use the road,” the CJTF member said.

The only alternative route, the Maiduguri-Damaturu-Buni Yadi-Biu road, is also not safe. This means that for now, anyone travelling from Biu, Hawul, Shani, Bayo, Kwaya Kusar and other local government areas to Maiduguri must go through Gombe State, making a journey that should take two hours last more than 12 hours.”

‘End the madness’

Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (All Progressives Congress, Borno South) described the “renewed Boko Haram attacks” in Borno as terrible.

He acknowledged the efforts of the military and security agencies but urged the federal government to take decisive action against insurgents by deploying sophisticated technology, including drones, to combat the fighters.

“As I speak, many communities in Gwoza, Askira-Uba, Chibok, Damboa, Biu and Hawul, among other local government areas, have been witnessing a series of attacks, destruction and looting of property without confrontation by our security forces.

“While the military and security agencies are doing their best, the federal government must wake up from its slumber, address the root causes of the insurgency … and put an end to this madness.

“I urge the federal government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership, to Train, Equip, Arm and Motivate [TEAM] the Nigerian military and other security agencies to effectively tackle terrorism, kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities that are plaguing the northeast, northwest and the country at large.”

Ndume said the persistent attacks were a threat to national security.

Free the professor

The senator also raised concerns over renewed kidnappings along the Maiduguri-Damaturu-Buni Yadi-Biu road.

He called for the immediate release of Professior Abubakar Eljuma, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at the Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB), and other individuals abducted along the once safe but now dangerous route.

Eljuma was one of 30 people abducted by armed men, believed to be insurgents, on the Damaturu-Biu road near Kamuya village along the axis of the Biu Local Government Area of Borno State on Sunday, March 2. He and the other abductees are still being held captive.

A university official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Ndarason that the professor was returning from a family visit to Maiduguri when the abduction took place.

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO