One resident, Mustapha Aji, said, “I cannot go to the market due to the roads being closed everywhere. I think there must be a way they can go about protecting VIPs instead of making things difficult for us.”
The Nigerian military shut down Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, arrived for an official visit on Monday.
All of the city’s roads were shut down and residents were forced to walk long distances to arrive at the market or their place of work.
According to residents speaking with a SaharaReporters correspondent, many chose to remain indoors rather than walk around the city.
Many residents lamented that the military should not have shut down all the roads simply because the Chief of Army Staff was visiting Maiduguri.
A local health worker, Binta Lawrence, told SaharaReporters that “I walked for about six kilometers before I could reach my place of work,” she lamented.
“If the Army Chief is visiting Maiduguri today and all roads were shut down, then what if President Buhari will visit Maiduguri? It means they will impose curfew?”
Another resident, Mustapha Aji, said, “I cannot go to the market due to the roads being closed everywhere. I think there must be a way they can go about protecting VIPs instead of making things difficult for us.”