At least eight people—including the driver of a Hummer bus—and scores more were injured when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) on the Maiduguri–Damboa–Biu federal highway on Saturday at about 11:30 am.
The blast occurred near Gidan Kaji (the abandoned Poultry House) in Konduga Local Government Area, a site deserted since the height of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Lawan Maina, District Head of Damboa, told our correspondent by phone: “It is very saddened to inform you about the explosion that took place along Damboa‑Maiduguri road this morning. A driver of a hummer bus and seven passengers died at the spot, while many others sustained various degrees of injury. I want to appeal to the federal government and the security agencies to redouble their efforts in complementing Borno State Government’s support and cooperation to defeat Boko Haram terrorists in the North East sub region.”
All injured victims were evacuated to the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, where Governor Babagana Zulum, accompanied by his entourage, ordered that they receive free treatment.
The attack comes just days after an Expanded Security Council meeting chaired by Governor Zulum, where he warned that renewed Boko Haram assaults were causing the state to lose ground.
In response, Information Minister Mohammed Idris issued a press statement insisting that “the administration remains committed to combating terrorism and banditry across the nation,” and that “the security agencies are working round‑the‑clock to bring the situation in parts of Borno and other states under control.”
However, when his remarks drew widespread criticism, the minister’s media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, “back‑pedalled” in a statement describing the report as “categorically false and a gross distortion of the minister’s remarks.”
Ibrahim stressed that, at no point did the minister say, “Ignore Zulum, Boko Haram has not taken over Borno.”
Former Borno Commissioner of Trade, Commerce and Industry Hon. Yerima Lawan Kareto, who has publicly challenged the minister’s claim of safety in the state, extended a personal invitation to Idris: “Let me inform the Minister that such statement is not enough to cool the high tensions raised on the resilient Borno people who have trust and confidence on Governor Babagana Zulum’s good governance, this can be attested to numerous people oriented projects and the unrelenting support in cash and kind to security agencies since 2019 to date. Minister Idris have to come to Borno under my personal invitation to follow me to Damasak.”
“This would avail him the opportunity to tender an unreserved apology and to tell Nigerians whether Governor Zulum, the Shehu Of Borno, Dr. Abubakar Garbai Al‑Amin El‑Kanemi and other security agencies who deliberated extensively on the renewed attacks, were all better informed that Borno is losing ground to terrorists or not.”
Kareto also urged Governor Zulum and frontline troops “not to be deterred by the Minister’s outburst, but to remain committed and focused on the fight against the renewed killings and other criminalities bedevilling many communities in the state.”
