Suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists have abducted the newly elected Vice Chairman of Biu Local Government Area of Borno State, Alhaji Saidu, alongside two councillors and several other passengers, reports have indicated.
The abduction occurred on Wednesday evening along the notorious Kamuya village–Buni Yadi road, a corridor long associated with insurgent attacks and mass kidnappings in Nigeria’s North-East.
Sources told counterinsurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, that the victims were travelling to Maiduguri after participating in the local government elections held last Saturday when their convoy was intercepted by the terrorists.
“Yes, our newly elected Vice Chairman in the last Saturday local government polls, Alhaji Saidu, and two councillors representing Zarawuyaku and Miringa wards of Biu Local Government Area were abducted by suspected ISWAP terrorists between Kamuya village and Buni Yadi road,” one of the sources said.
According to the sources, the attackers did not limit their operation to the politicians but also seized passengers from other vehicles plying the highway at the time of the incident.
They said a Hisbah vehicle travelling from Potiskum in Yobe State was intercepted, while passengers in a Jamatul Nasrul Islam (Yan Agaji) vehicle heading to Biu were also abducted.
“They were abducted alongside some unidentified passengers travelling in a Jamatul Nasrul Islam vehicle en route from Potiskum town of Yobe State to Biu. One of the councillors abducted was the immediate past vice chairman of Biu Local Government,” the source disclosed.
