The Nigeria military in the early hours of Wednesday shut down major highways linking Maiduguri with the other parts of the country, crippling socio-economic activities in Yobe and Borno states respectively.
The residents of Kaga local government including Auno, Jakana, Mainok and Benisheik all along Maiduguri/Kano highway woke up Wednesday morning to see hundreds of soldiers surrounding their communities and this was followed by house- to- house searches.
The operation is as result of resurgent attacks by the Boko Haram group in the north east in recent weeks, which fueled growing fear in the area.
Baba Hassan, a resident of Mainok, told BusinessDay that the operation started at exactly 6am on Wednesday morning as soldiers surrounded their community. “As we woke up this morning, the soldiers had surrounded the whole town, they started checking our houses, everyone panicked because we could not go out to do our business, we are petty traders. They didn’t beat us, they only searched our houses but there was no movement,” Hassan said.
A commercial driver, Babagana Sandami, lamented that the operation has seriously affected their economic activities. He said “we were not informed at all about the operations, look I loaded passengers for Abuja, how could we handle this, many of them want me to pay them back. It had further worsened our problems. We have spent six hours here, this is not fair at all, as you are aware this is the only highway that links Maiduguri with other parts of the country.
“The passengers are worried about the situation, my fear is that they are not willing to travel again, this operation has really crippled economic activities, motorists could not come in from Damaturu. We are not happy,” Babagana said.
A security source, who confirmed operations around the Maiduguri/ Damaturu highway, pleaded with commuters plying the highway to understand that it couldn’t have been deliberate to paralyze commercial activities, saying it is an issue of national security.
It was learnt that the operations affected some parts of Yobe state, especially as the Damaturu/ Potiskum highway was shutdown. However, the details of the house –to- house searches are still sketchy.
The Maiduguri- Damaturu-Potiskum highways were closed since the early hours of Wednesday until midday, as scores of travellers were stranded on the road in what the military said was a clearance operation in the area to ensure the safety of the people.
“We blocked the road earlier. It was temporary and we are doing that to ensure people are safe. We are doing clearance operation there. The road is free now and people can use it,” the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, said.
He said the road has been reopened and urged the people to report any strange movement to the military or security agencies near them. He also urged them not to fear as the military was working hard to flush out the Boko Haram insurgents.
Joshua Ladi, Maiduguri
