No fewer than 120 lives were lost along the 130km Damaturu-Buni/Yadi-Biu road, while motorists and commuters were travelling along the same road in 2025 in Yobe and Borno states.
The 10 dozens of lost lives, were attributed to the continuous poor state of the road built by the Federal Government in the 1980s.
According to some of the drivers, and commuters, the 45-year-old road has become a death trap for over three decades in the two states.
Confirming the poor state of the road over the weekend at Buni-Yadi, the Yobe State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Andrew Longkam said: “The rate of auto crashes along this road reduced by only 25 percent in 2025,” stating that this was despite of the filling up of multiple pothole and the repairs done to the washed-off portions of the road in 2023 and 2024.”
Malam Audu Musa (not real name), a victim of a ghastly accident in July, 2025 lamented: “As the military counter-terrorism operations are ongoing, this road fuels insurgency and kidnappings of persons along the road since July 2009,” adding that the terrorists exploit the neglected road to continuously abduct and kill many innocent motorists and travellers in the Damaturu-Biu axis.
Similarly, journalists who accompanied the Nigerian armed troops on Wednesday for a media tour also witnessed the deplorable state of the federal highway that had been linking Borno, Adamawa and Gombe states in the Northeast region.
“What we discovered was a stretch of despairs-gaping potholes, stranded vehicles, and commuters stranded at the road sides with fears of being attacked and abducted by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) terrorists from the Sambisa Forest,” said Musa, who had been plying the road for over two decades.
Hajiya Fatima Ya’u, a passenger travelling to Gombe, expressed her frustration shared by many other road users, including farmers and fire wood fetchers.
She said: “This road is very bad. It became necessary for me to travel along this route, because I don’t have the means to take the longer and safer road through Potiskum and Darazau in Bauchi state.
Fatima pleaded, “We are begging the Federal and State governments to rebuild the dilapidated road: before the end of 2026 for us.”
The concern of the mother of four children was also moved by Abdullahi Umar, a traveller from Buni-Gari to Biu, a distance of 66km who had been enduring the poor state of the road for over three decades.
“This is my usual road; it’s the only one I know. It’s a key logistics route for moving farm produce from rural areas to major markets like Damaturu. It connects Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Adamawa, and Taraba, and reduces vehicle operating costs and transport expenses,” he explained.
He added that despite years of hardship, commuters continue to play the road because they have no alternative routes to destinations.
Fatima, therefore, urged the Federal Government to rebuild the 45-year neglected road to prevent further attacks and abductions of civilians and security personnel in region.
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
