Damaturu-Maiduguri highway still a death trap

It is no longer news that the Damaturu to Maiduguri highway is an unsafe route for travellers with the surge in the activities of insurgents on the road. We now witness cases of terrorism and abduction.

I was very shocked when I read the terrible news about the abduction of 35 commuters on Friday by Boko Haram insurgents along this highway.

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It was reported that the insurgents appeared in military uniform and mounted a roadblock before taking away the passengers.

It’s very unfortunate that people are not safe in every part of this country, more especially the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

We can recall that in February this year, more than 40 commuters were burnt to ashes by the same Boko Haram insurgents on this road.

Precious lives are being lost on this death trap of the road and we call on the government and security forces to put more effort towards tackling this problem.

I’m writing this on behalf of the students of the University of Maiduguri, who are always travelling by this road.

I urge the government to provide more military checkpoints on the road to save the lives of Nigerians plying it.

Kasim Isa Muhammad, Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri