Borno, an agrarian state in north-eastern Nigeria is blessed with large deposits of mineral resources and a major source for freshwater fish as it houses part of the Lake Chad.
However, Borno State which means ‘home of peace’ has known no peace since the Boko haram insurgents took refuge there in 2009. In 2013/2014, the insurgents bombed major bridges on four of the highways leading into the town and their attacks reigned supreme rendering five of the six routes inaccessible.
The violence has spread to nearby Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the jihadist groups. Boko Haram and its affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction have recently stepped up attacks on military and civilian targets.
The decade-long conflict has killed over 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast, according to the United Nations.
The 27 local government areas that make up the state are connected to other parts of the country by six routes. These routes welcomed investors who were interested in investing in the state through agribusiness, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Tourism, Energy and Mining.
As the over ten years-long insurgencies in the region persist the once harmless route, Kano-Maiduguri highway also known as the Golden Gate is reportedly fast being cut off from the rest of the country.
Guarding the ‘Golden Gate’
In the last six years, the Benishek Bridge on the 135km distance road between Damaturu, Yobe state capital, and Maiduguri on the Kano-Maiduguri highway is the only reason the entire Borno state can be accessed.
The bridge enables goods and services, including deployed military asset and commercial commodities, to get in and out of Maiduguri as well as other commuters who can’t afford to travel by air (which is 90% of the three million residents in Maiduguri city). Being the only safe route, the Maiduguri-Kano highway is guarded by the combined forces of the military, police SARS and Civilian-JTF.
Fall of the ‘Golden Gate’
The eve of Christmas 2018 marked the beginning of attacks by the insurgents on the Kano- Maiduguri highway when a deadly ambush was staged near a military checkpoint in Kukareta village of Yobe state, killing 13 soldiers and a police officer.
On January 7, 2019, Boko Haram launched an attack on a military facility in Auno village (23 km West of Maiduguri) killing at least three persons.
On July 17, 2019, Islamic State West African Province, a faction of the Boko Haram staged an ambush on a military patrol vehicle near Jakana town, killing six soldiers, including a colonel. The military evacuated the locals for weeks and conducted a search in Jakana that seemed unproductive and generated condemnations.
On July 30, 2019, ISWAP fighters attempted a major attack on Benishek, the seat of Borno’s Golden Bridge, but were swiftly repelled by the Nigeria Air Force jets.
All became calm until December 9, 2019, when the insurgents impersonated the army killing 18 people including two soldiers and a police officer.
After a quiet yuletide, on January 4, 2020, ISWAP fighters driving in six-gun trucks stormed Jakana and attacked a military base killing four soldiers and injured 11 others but reported they killed 30 soldiers. This attack led to a face-off between the military and the government as the army sought evacuation of the town.
On January 9, 2020, the insurgents staged yet another ambush on travellers on the outskirts of Auno, 23km away from Maiduguri and took seven of the travellers away. Between January 13 and 18, the insurgents have carried out several attacks and abduction of travellers, including eight students of the University of Maiduguri.
Blood, sweat, and resources going into the protection of this route seem to go to waste as attacks continue daily. The 160 patrol vans donated for surveillance by the state government has done nothing to help Hussein Abba Kyari, a textile merchant in Maiduguri and others like him whose businesses between Borno, Yobe and Kano states have taken a hit. The military though paying the ultimate price with their troops in a twisted play of politics continue to insist that all is well.
Theatre Commander Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Adeniyi says as far as he was concerned, the route linking Maiduguri and Damaturu is very safe and the presidency says Boko haram has been defeated. But if the military and the government continue to lie to the people, the Fourth Estate of the Realm will not, Roots TV especially.
