Boko Haram terrorists have abducted the Vice Chairman and two newly elected councillors of Biu Local Government Area along the Kamuya-Buni/Yadi axis in Borno and Yobe states.
The kidnapped officials, Alhaji Saidu and the councillors representing Zarawuyaku and Miringa wards, were elected in last Saturday’s local government elections.
According to a credible security source in Maiduguri, the abductions occurred on Wednesday evening while the officials were traveling from Biu, the council headquarters, to Maiduguri.
The source added that an unspecified number of other passengers were also abducted from a Hisbah bus along the same route from Potiskum to Biu.
One of the kidnapped councillors previously served as the vice chairman of Biu council.
An anonymous community leader from Miringa appealed to the Borno State government, military, and other security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the captives, believed to be held in the Sambisa Forest.
The Buni/Yadi-Miringa corridor has long been notorious for attacks, kidnappings, and killings by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) over the past seven years.
In a related incident, a suicide bomber targeted a military post near Firgi, close to Pulka in Borno State, on Sunday.
Local sources and security officials reported that at least five soldiers were killed, though the military has confirmed the attack without specifying casualties.
Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, military spokesman in the northeast, stated that the soldiers neutralized the attacker before the bombing could fully succeed.
Umar Sa’idu, a member of a local militia who helped transport the victims, described the scene:
“I counted five bodies lying in blood at the back of my house. Medical personnel at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital later confirmed all five had died.”
Militants in northeastern Nigeria have intensified raids on military bases this year, even as suicide bombings, once a signature tactic of Boko Haram, have become less frequent due to military operations against the insurgents.
