Dozens of travelers were abducted on Saturday, February 17, 2018, by suspected Boko Haram terrorists on Maiduguri-Damboa Road, security sources have told SaharaReporters.
The incident, said sources, occurred at about noon in Kuwa Kauwa, a village near Bulaburin in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State. The terrorists were also said to have made away with at least six trucks loaded with food items.
“It was horrible, dozens of travelers were abducted today. Trucks usually leave Damboa town 45 minutes ahead of the military convoys that protect them. But before the convoy got to the scene, Boko Haram terrorists had attacked,” said a security source in Damboa.
The source also revealed that the Army is aware of the latest abductions but the army is yet to make a public statement about the incident. “The 115 Brigade of the Nigerian Army is fully aware of what happened on Damboa/ Maiduguri highway near Bulaburin and is currently working on it,” he said.
The abduction was carried out less than 24 hours after three Boko Haram suicide bombers killed at least 22 people and left many others injured in a fish market in Konduga.
Tukur Buratai, on Sunday charged troops to capture Abubakar Shekau, the factional leader of the Boko Haram terrorists group, alive or dead. Buratai gave the charge at Camp Zairo, the former Command and Control Centre of the terrorists group in the Sambisa forest during an operational visit to troops.
In 2017, the army chief gave troops a 40-day ultimatum to capture Shekau and the army recently offered a N3 million reward for information on him. Troops finally destroyed the camp in January in an operation tagged “Deep Punch II’’ and are now dominating the general area of the forest.
The military sacked Shekau from the camp in December, 2016 but the terrorists later re-group to launch pockets of attacks. Other locations visited by Buratai are Bita and Tukumbere, all settlements within the forest but almost deserted due to the insurgency.
