At least 35 travellers were abducted Friday evening by gunmen who ambushed commuters along the Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway, witnesses and security sources have said.

The abductions, the latest in a series of attacks on travellers on the key highway, followed an earlier assault on Friday, according to witnesses. Not less than 50 cases of abduction of travellers have occurred along the same highway in 2020 alone.

Last week, suspected Boko Haram fighters kidnapped two aid workers travelling from Damaturu to Maiduguri, and later used the Facebook page of one of the aid workers, to announce that they had killed them and “their corpses would never be found.”

Travelling the 135km stretch of road between the state capitals is considered extremely dangerous if such a journey is done before 9 am or after 2 pm when the route is busy.

Security sources say earlier on Friday, the terrorists had staged a surprising attack on travellers at about 11 a.m. along the road. That incident was considered unusual given the time. The morning attack caused panic as motorists had to linger for a while from both ends of the highway.

By at about 5 p.m. of the same day, witnesses and security sources said the militants returned to the highway and mounted a roadblock at a town called Garin Kuturu near Jakana.

Sources familiar with the development said one of their first victims was a Dangote Group of Company truck whose driver was shot at before the vehicle was set ablaze.

“The insurgents who were dressed in military uniforms drove out of the bush in five Hilux vans,” said a witness who pleaded anonymity for security reasons. “They later waylaid nine commercial vehicles and forced away from the passengers into the bush.”

A military source who confirmed the development, in confidence, said “the passengers initially sighted a burning fire, but they thought it was bush burning, not knowing it was an ambush.

“However, as the other cars were approaching the scene, they suddenly sighted the insurgents moving towards them on trucks mounted with weapons. Before they could turn their vehicles to run, the insurgents had already caught up with them.

“Many of the passengers fled into the bush, but about 35 of them were abducted. Two private vehicles and one truck were also set ablaze. Nine other passenger vehicles belonging to the abducted travellers were also abandoned at the scene while their properties were looted,” the senior military officer said.

PT