Suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have attacked Gamdu town in Yobe State, killing 11 residents and taking over Damaturu-Maiduguri highway.
Gamdu is a commercial and agricultural settlement along Damaturu-Maiduguri highway and is located 35 kilometres east of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State.
A resident of Gamdu town, Mallam Bukar Gamdu, told Channels Television on phone that the militants came to town in the midnight of Friday and carried out some killings.
“The attackers came in the night and killed people of our community and as the day breaks, we counted eleven inhabitants killed in the dastard act,” Gamdu said.
More Security Patrol
Apart from the killings that were carried out on Friday night, Gamdu said the insurgents had formed the habit of mounting temporary road blocks on the busy Damaturu-Maiduguri highway to terrorise people travelling on the road.
Another traveller on the security-threaten road, who asked not to be mentioned, said “travellers often wait for each other to move in long convoy for fear of attack”. He called for more security patrol along the road.
He also confirmed that the insurgents had by noon on Saturday blocked the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway which lasted for several minutes, as several vehicles had to stop at nearby villages to avoid the attackers who were later chased away by security forces.
“We were travelling from Damaturu to Maiduguri in a long convoy and luckily security operatives on patrol were leading the convoy and suddenly we had a loud sound and the security men immediately had a stopover and run into the bush.
“We later heard that they sighted the insurgents who were strategising to mount a road block. We stayed there for over an hour and the security operatives later returned and we continue the journey but no one knows what really transpired between them and the insurgents deep in the bush,” he explained.
Set Ablaze
The traveller called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the relevant authorities to step up efforts towards ending the insurgency which had held back development in the two states and the north-east in general.
Some travellers from Maiduguri to Damaturu told Channels Television in Damaturu on Saturday afternoon that several cars along the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway around Benesheiehk, the headquarters of Kaga Local Government Area, were set ablaze by the insurgents, as at the time they were plying the route.
Boko Haram attacks on innocent people in Borno and Yobe States are gradually on the rise, with wide spread cases of suicide bombings, attacks on communities, places of worship and areas believed to have crowds.
President Buhari had, during his inaugural address on the May 29, assured Nigerians that his “administration will fight and subdue the militants,” the Boko Haram.
Despite the assurance by the President, the terrorist group, which had lost some of the territories it had captured to heightened counter-terrorism operations by Nigerian Armed Forces, have intensified attacks, killing over 300 persons since May 29.