Breaking! Truck carrying Borno IDPs returning home hits landmine
A truck carrying internally displaced persons (IDPs) hit a landmine on a highway causing an explosion which injured some of the passengers, officials report.
The displaced persons were on their way from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, back to Gamboru-Ngala, a border community liberated from Boko Haram, when explosion occured.
The incident occurred barely an hour after military authorities in Maiduguri officially approved the transportation of the IDPs and food items to the liberated border community.
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Bello Moduganari, the chairman of the national union of road transport workers, has confirmed the incident to Premium Times reporters.
He said: “We just received the sad news that one of the vehicles that we had cleared to move to Gamboru-Ngala ran into a landmine at Ngom village, some 20km away from Maiduguri.
There is no report of death in the incident so far, but we have arranged to take the victims to the hospital here in Maiduguri. We learnt the landmine was planted in the centre of the road and an unsuspecting land cruiser jeep ran over it.”
The soldiers reportedly escorted the convoy of more than 200 trucks, pickup vans and passenger buses conveying foodstuffs and people.
Amodu Musa, the secretary of the NURTW in Borno, had earlier informed reporters about the inability to convey the passengers due to poor road conditions during the rainy season and dangers on the route.
“Initially we had ignorantly blamed the soldiers for not trying to help us; but when we went there on our own we met 18 of our trucks stuck in the clay mud blocking the entire routes.
We had to employ the service of a mega crane and towing vans to pull them out; then we also hired tippers to sand fill the route before we could make it to Gamboru some two weeks ago.
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And when we got to Gamboru we discovered that there were people but no food; a cube of Maggi was being sold for N20. A can of malt was sold at N350 and N300.
That was why we pleaded with the military to assist us by allowing the trucks conveying food items to go first before the passenger vehicles.”
Lucky Irabor, the theatre commander of the operation ‘Lafiya Dole’, had described the movement of persons and trucks through the routes leading to Gamboru as one of the most difficult tasks.
He had also refuted rumours about soldiers taking bribes from truck owners in exchange for escort.
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