Suspected members of Boko Haram have killed two commercial drivers along the Maiduguri-Monguno Road in Borno State.
The drivers were shot after they refused to stop at the insurgents’ checkpoint.
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A truck driver transporting blocks to Monguno who obeyed the insurgents’ order and stopped was abducted.
A relative of the abducted driver told PREMIUM TIMES that the incident happened Tuesday afternoon.
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He said the drivers were on their way to Monguno from Maiduguri.
“The two drivers were driving a Volkswagen Golf. The insurgents stopped them, but they refused to stop, and that’s how they were shot. However, our brother stopped, and they abducted him,” said the source who requested to remain anonymous.
He said other passengers on the truck ran into the bush, leaving the victim behind.
“The two drivers were killed not far from Gajiram while on their way to Monguno,” Musa Abur, a resident of Gajiram, the headquarters of the Ganzai Local Government, Area also confirmed.
Demand for ransom
The relative said a day after the incident, the insurgents demanded the a N20 million ransom to release the victim.
“The money they are demanding is huge, and they said if we don’t bring the money, they will kill him. They said we should bring N20 million,” the source said.
After a series of negotiations, the insurgents lowered their demand to N10 million.
Cases of abduction in Borno State have been rising since the Nigerian Army intensified clearing operations across the Sambisa forest, which has considerably reduced the insurgents’ ability to attack communities.
Over the past week, insurgents abducted four people, including Abba Bukar, Secretary of the Kukawa Local Government, and his aide along the Kukawa-Monguno road, and two young people along the Maiduguri-Damboa road.
The secretary was reportedly abducted on 22 July near Garin Kashim while the victims were traveling in a Volkswagen Golf car on their way to Kukawa.
Although there were five people in the car, the insurgents abducted the secretary and his aide and released the others.
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He was allegedly released after paying N30 million as ransom, a relative told PREMIUM TIMES.
The two young people were abducted last week while on their way to Maiduguri after visiting their farms in Damboa.
They were released after their family paid N1.2 million and two phones as ransom to the insurgents.
“They demanded N1.2 million, two small phones, and bread, but the father, who is a vulcanizer in front of our house, told them he could not transport bread to them because he was afraid of soldiers. He, however, sold his land and raised the amount,” Usman Usman said.
“The family representative took the money to a location given by the insurgents, but at the location, there was no network. He waited but didn’t see the insurgents, so he decided to bury the money and the phones at the location.
“After returning home, he called the insurgents and told them where he had kept the money,” Mr Usman explained.
The insurgents later acknowledged receiving the items, and the young people were released around 3 a.m. that night.
