Terrorists suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents have ambushed two commercial vehicles along the Biu–Damaturu highway in Borno State’s Kamuya axis, abducting 13 travellers including a seven-month-old baby.
A wave of intense anxiety and panic has gripped commuters and residents in Borno State following the violent abduction of 13 highway passengers, including a seven-month-old infant, by suspected Boko Haram terrorists. The attack occurred along the volatile Biu–Damaturu highway within the notorious Kamuya axis—a border corridor long plagued by insurgent activity between Borno and Yobe states. According to local security sources, the heavily armed insurgents intercepted two Volkswagen Golf wagons that were conveying passengers to their destinations, forced the occupants out at gunpoint, and marched them into the dense surrounding forests.
The brazen morning ambush has left the families of the victims in profound psychological distress, as no communication has been established regarding the condition or exact location of the captives. In a joint press statement released to journalists, the traumatized relatives lamented the wall of silence surrounding the incident and made a passionate, high-pitched appeal to both the federal and Borno State governments, as well as military counter-insurgency commands, to deploy immediate tracking teams to rescue their loved ones. “The families are calling on government authorities, security agencies, humanitarian organisations and all relevant stakeholders to urgently intervene and ensure the safe rescue of the abducted travellers,” the statement noted.
The Biu–Damaturu route has increasingly become a dangerous bottleneck for commuters, with local transport unions frequently warning of illegal checkpoints mounted by various insurgent factions. Security experts note that despite regular military patrols, the vast, ungoverned spaces surrounding the Kamuya axis allow remnants of the terror group to execute quick hit-and-run ambushes on soft civilian targets. While theater commands of the anti-terror operations in the North-East have been notified of the development, emergency search-and-rescue teams, backed by local hunters and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), are currently coordinating to comb the forest axis in a desperate bid to secure the safe return of the 13 hostages.
READ THE FULL STORY IN DAILY POST
NEWS NOW:
