The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has said that the poor
state of roads fuel B’Haram insurgency and vehicles’ wears and tears.
According to him, the dilapidated washed off roads, which were built
40 years ago, are sited in Borno and Adamawa states.
The over a decade long insurgency, has also claimed 36,000 lives with
property worth $9.2 billion (about N3.42 trillion) in Borno, Adamawa
and Yobe states.
Tukur had recently lamented at the 5 Brigade; Monguno military barrack
that; “Let me use this opportunity to express how bad roads in areas
of military operations, affecting our quick responses to terrorists’
attacks and ambushes.”
He noted that the insurgents, cashed in on the delays in responses to
attacks and ambushes along four dilapidated roads in Borno.
Tukur listed the affected roads to include the 394- kilometre
Maiduguri/Jakana, Maiduguri/Damboa/Biu, Maiduguri/Monguno and
Maiduguri/Bam/Gwoza roads.
While plying 40km-Maiduguri/Jakana road yesterday (Tuesday) to Ngamdu
Special Army Super Camp 1 for an operations in Timbuktu triangle of
Sambisa Forest, it took the military convoy about an hour, instead of
20-minute drive.
The Maiduguri/Kano dual carriage road project, was awarded by the
Obasanjo admiration in 2005 to China Civil Engineering Construction
Company (CCECC).
Having completed road up to Jakana village last year in Borno state,
insurgents in April, 2018 torched eight heavy duty construction
vehicles, including a bull dozer at project site leading to Maiduguri.
A week after, CCECC towed its roads construction vehicles to an
undisclosed yard in Northeast.
Since then, the Maiduguri/Jakana road, remains uncompleted with
harrowing experiences of motorists and commenters for about two years.
At Auno village, a large portion of road, was completely washed off,
forcing motorist and truck drivers swerve off road to avoid deep
crates.
“When one of us falls into this crate, it takes youths in the village
three hours to pull out our vehicles,” said Umaru Audu, while
travelling to Maiduguri from Kano yesterday (Tuesday).
He said driving a truck loaded with goods from Jakana to Maiduguri,
takes an hour to meander and avoid the deep crates along the road.
While citing over dozen crates and washed off portions of road, Mallam
Abba Hamisu, a passenger in one of buses, caught up in snail speed
travel to Maiduguri, told The Guardian drivers and passengers, had
been suffering for over two years.
This was why he said that pregnant women are not advised to travel on
the dilapidated road, which could be completed, because of insurgency.
He noted that the contractor had no options, than the hold on to
completion of 40km road to Maiduguri.
Mohammed Ibrahim, the Commander of defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad
(SARS), who also won two awards for fighting Boko Haram insurgency,
said: “The insurgents are cashing on the poor state of this road.
“They trapped and attack several motorists and passengers, because of
the washed off portions of road and tyre-dugout crates to Maiduguri.”
According to him, insurgents employ the crates along the road, for
crossing from Sambisa Forest to Lake Chad region.
“This was why the police conduct patrols in the evenings along this
road,” he said.
