The insurgents, who were in military uniforms, were said to have placed a roadblock on the highway with five Hilux vans before taking away the passengers.
A yet-to-be ascertained number of travellers were on Thursday abducted by Boko Haram insurgents along Damaturu-Maiduguri Road.
Military sources who disclosed the incident to SaharaReporters said the insurgents attacked a large convoy of commuters at Garin-Kuturu near Auno in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State at about 1:30 pm.
The insurgents, who were in military uniforms, were said to have placed a roadblock on the highway with five Hilux vans before taking away the passengers.
The gunmen also set ablaze two vehicles, a Volkswagen Golf and a Peugeot car.
“Some of the passengers fled into the bush but most of them were abducted. Two vehicles were also set ablaze. Other passenger vehicles belonging to the abducted travellers were also abandoned at the scene while their properties were looted,” one of the sources told SaharaReporters.
“As soon as we were alerted, we mobilised to the area and engaged them (Boko Haram terrorists) for about an hour. The road was then cleared for other travellers to pass.”
SaharaReporters gathered that the abduction is the latest in a series of attacks on travellers on the highway.
In 2020, the insurgents kidnapped two aid workers travelling from Damaturu to Maiduguri, and later used the Facebook page of one of the aid workers to announce that they had killed them and “their corpses would never be found.”
Travelling the 135km stretch of road between the state capitals is considered extremely dangerous if such a journey is done before 9 am or after 2 pm when the route is busy.