“President Jonathan Is Chairman Of Boko Haram” – Maiduguri Truck Drivers To BBC

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Nigerian truck drivers who have survived a journey through Boko Haram territory relax out of the sun under the porch of a building.

Most of those in the group drive tankers of petrol, diesel or kerosene to and from Maiduguri – the city at the heart of the Islamist insurgency in the north-east and the capital of Borno state.

Gathered at the Ogere Trailer Park, about 50km (30 miles) north of Lagos, they say they have all been affected by the six-year conflict.

“We are all concerned about the situation, we have all lost relatives, wives and children are kidnapped and houses have been burnt,” says Atiku Abubakar.

Speaking in Hausa, he and his colleagues describe the perils of the route to and from Lagos.

It takes two and a half days when a tanker is empty and four and a half days when full.

They say it is dangerous enough without the militants to contend with as there are so many potholes.

“Ten of my colleagues who ply this route have been killed in the last three weeks,” says Mr Abubakar.

“The militants stopped them and cut off their heads with an electric chainsaw and burned the trucks,” he says.


“Boko Haram is usually only interested in commandeering smaller vehicles, sometimes the fighters will take the lorries, but most of the time they burn them.”

Another truck driver chips in to say that if a driver looks “powerful” he may be kidnapped and conscripted as a fighter, but anyone looking “weak” will definitely “lose his head”.

“If you reach Damaturu by five in the afternoon, you dare not continue on the final leg to Maiduguri,” he says, explaining that a driver may not manage the last 130km before the sun sets, when they would be most vulnerable to attack.

The drivers tend to work for an owner who has about 20 tankers – each vehicle also has about two assistants to help with loading and guarding the cargo, known as motor boys.

As the drivers and motor boys ease into the conversation they begin to open up about how the insurgency has directly affected them.

Driver Trap Bukar says he was in the town of Bama when it was captured by Boko Haram last September.

“It started early in the morning. Suddenly they came. There was shooting, in my presence I saw four people go down; the soldiers fled,” he says.

He lifts up his shirt to show what look like bullet scars on his upper torso

“I could tell you many unhappy tales,” he says, with tears in his eyes.

But he suddenly gets up and leaves the group and his colleagues say he is too traumatised by his memories to continue.

Kullima Ali, 18, who has been a motor boy for four years, says he is now his family’s only bread winner.

He says it is very difficult to tell the militants from soldiers, as they dress in camouflage – with only their eyes visible.

“They stole some food, killed my two brothers and burned our house in Maiduguri in January 2013,” he says.

“There’s only my mother and my sister now.”

He says he had wanted to go and study science, but he is unable to afford to continue his education.

“Many of the drivers have good qualifications,” says Umar Hussaini, 18, a motor boy who helps his driver brother.

He introduces me to Ibrahim Abdullahi, 25, a former university student who had been studying civil engineering at the start of insurgency.

He has been working as a trucker for the last five years as there are few other employment opportunities for young men, especially in the areas affected by the conflict.

“Yes I am scared, if there was other work I would find another job,” says Mr Abdullahi.

All the truckers express anger about the six-week postponement of the 14 February presidential election and are vocal in their criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the conflict.

Some even refer to him as “the chairman of Boko Haram” – seeing him as complicit in the group’s growth over the years.

Others say his complicity lies in his neglect of north-east.

“President Jonathan is just as guilty as those Boko Haram killers because he has chopped off all the money to repair the roads,” Mr Abubakar says.

Life is now a constant financial struggle for them, he adds.

For each trip, a driver gets a 10,000 naira ($50, £33) living allowance but this might have to last for several weeks as he waits at Ogere Trailer Park for clearance to go into Lagos port to collect cargo.

Most of the truckers get a monthly salary of between $100 and $200 and the motor boys receive $2.50 a day.

“I spent four days in the queue in the traffic to the port – I haven’t slept for four nights because I had to watch out for thieves as they remove parts from the vehicle or steal the gas,” he says.

But he is only taking a short break of a couple of hours as he is anxious to put the coming dangers behind him.

“The killings are too much and have been going on for too long,” says his colleague Mr Abubakar.

“President Jonathan is not doing anything. We hope he will leave – we want change.”

10 COMMENTS

  1. Una no get sence @ all…una no go talk abut d person when dey make d country un govern able 4 d president…una dey blame d persn when dey try bring peace…don’t u all knows he can just order d air strike and finish all of dem..but he dey reason all of una …make innocent no go die….abeg make una vote GEJ 4 President of Nigeria…

  2. All of you are fools,even the truck drivers,ao much did thy pay u people,dat u people are seeling ur nxt generations future,may God punish all of you,both you people who said on this comment that you need change are bunch of fools,GEJ,or no oder person!useless set of people,hausa’s,fulani’s etc,u ar d people dat bring dis useless boko haram stuff,bt why I thank d almighty GOD!is dat. U people are still killin urslfs,yeye people

  3. GEG had been governing just eight local government in bayelsa
    Why did Nigeria decided to handle more than seven hundred local government to a bush that come from bushy people bushy areas where there whole settlement are in darkness and felure

  4. Give and take Buhari has a better precedence and that is why a lot of people have chosen to vote him. Tribal inclination is the major problem we have in this country. In the south East its only during Election that Our roads are remembered and abandoned once they are voted in. I don’t care who wins now so long he is willing to deliver the democratic dividends to the common masses.

    GEJ did not do a visible single project in the south East, If he has done any he should just name it. For six years Enugu Airport which was started b4 him is still there not working to full capacity, the 2nd Onitsha bridge is still on paper and mouthing… Hey who is fooling who? wake up from slumber Nigerians vote and defend the vote to make sure it is not rigged. GEJ & GMB I wish you both winnings but it is only one person that will emerge GEJ? OR DMB?

  5. my dear brothers & SISTERs, i would like to use dis midium upportunity to express my sadness to all readers. i am one of FTS participant, i had my primary assignment in Gombe state under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) ABUJA as class teacher but not paid for good eight months to date. we are abt 460 participants non of us had received even a kobo by UBEC. therefore fled to inform the public and new elected govt. of GMB TO investigate the incident and purnish those who are responsibles. may Almighty God help us and bless Nigeria and GMB..