By Deborah Nnamdi
Suspected fighters of the Boko Haram terror group have abducted the Vice Chairman of Biu Local Government Area in Borno State and two newly elected councillors along the Kamuya–Buni/Yadi axis linking parts of Borno and Yobe states.
The victims, identified as Alhaji Saidu and councillors representing Zarawuyaku and Miringa wards, were elected during last Saturday’s local government elections. They were reportedly kidnapped on Wednesday while travelling from Biu, the council headquarters, to Maiduguri along the 130-kilometre Damaturu–Biu road.
Confirming the incident on Thursday in Maiduguri, a security operative disclosed that the abduction occurred amid rising insecurity on the route. The source added that an unspecified number of passengers travelling in a Hisbah bus from Potiskum to Biu were also seized by the attackers along the same road on Wednesday evening.
According to the source, one of the kidnapped councillors previously served as vice chairman of the Biu council. A community leader from Miringa, who spoke on condition of anonymity, appealed to the Borno State government, the military, and other security agencies to intensify rescue efforts, saying more than a dozen captives are believed to be held in the Sambisa Forest.
Meanwhile, at least five soldiers were killed in a suicide attack on a military position in northeastern Nigeria near the Cameroon border, according to security and local defence sources. The attacker struck a military location in Firgi, near the town of Pulka in Borno State, on Sunday.
A member of a community-backed militia, Umar Sa’idu, said he saw five bodies after the blast and assisted in transporting the victims to the hospital. He added that medical personnel at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital later confirmed that all five soldiers had died.
Suicide bombings, once a hallmark tactic of the insurgency at its peak more than a decade ago, have become less frequent in recent years as military operations degraded the group’s capabilities. However, militant raids on military bases have intensified across the region this year.
The military’s spokesman in the northeast, Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, confirmed the attack but did not verify the reported fatalities, saying troops shot the attacker as he attempted to detonate the explosive device. The incident was also reported by AFP.
