AFRICA Boko Haram Threatens to Cut Borno State from Nigeria OE Watch Commentary: The excerpted article from a Nigerian source discusses how Boko Haram’s current strategy risks cutting off northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State from the rest of the country. For several weeks in January, the group attacked the crucial Kano-Maiduguri highway connecting northern Nigeria’s largest city, Kano, with Borno’s capital, Maiduguri. The article points out that this is similar to the group’s strategy during the height of its territorial conquests in 2013-2014 in Borno, when it sought to render that highway and other roads inaccessible by bombing major bridges and occupying roadside villages. In terms of tactics, the article observes that Boko Haram often dresses in military attire, which makes drivers mistakenly believe the militants are the army. This enables the group to set Civilian Joint Force members patrol in Maiduguri. up fake checkpoints and capture or kill passengers and disrupt Source: C. Oduah (VOA) via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Civilian_Joint_Force_members_patrol_in_Maiduguri.jpg, Public Domain traffic. In particular, the article states that Boko Haram has recently begun to target aid workers and Christians on the highways and released their execution videos through media channels affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In a worst case scenario, the article argues that the Kano-Maiduguri highway would have to be closed down, which would severely affect trade in northern Nigeria. This is why, apparently, Borno governor Babagana Zulum has urged the military to take all measures to secure that highway. This means that passengers are increasingly forced to travel with military convoys, including passengers who are especially targeted by Boko Haram, such as Christian pilgrims. The article ends on a pessimistic note by reminding that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to end the insurgency when he came into office in 2015- a promise that remains unkept.End OE Watch Commentary (Zenn)

“It seems that if the government fails to address the problem, the road may soon be in the hands of the insurgents.”

Source: “Increasing Boko Haram Attacks on Highways Threaten to Cut Borno Off from Nigeria,”premiumtimesng.com , 23 January 2020. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/373896-special-report-increasing-boko-haram-attacks-on-highways-threaten-to-cut-borno- off-from-nigeria.html

Fear is now mounting that Borno State may soon be totally cut off from the rest of Nigeria as Boko Haram insurgents in the past few weeks have launched daily attacks on the Kano-Maiduguri highway, the only remaining safe route to the state. Today, to travel from Maiduguri to Biu, about 180 kilometres in the southern part of the state, commuters now go through Yobe, Bauchi and Gombe states, covering a distance of about 560km. It is even worse for communities in northern Borno. In December 2018, the military reopened most of the roads after “reclaiming” them from Boko Haram. But it still required heavily armed soldiers to escort long convoys of vehicles to ply the routes. Despite that, travellers and their military escorts suffered a series of fatal ambushes by Boko Haram gunmen. Today, the “reopened roads” have been abandoned as it has become suicidal to ply them. Though the Theatre Commander said the highway is safe for motorists, it was the first time in a long time that pilgrims were given military escort from Damaturu to Maiduguri. Governor Zulum two weeks ago begged the Federal government to ensure that the military does not shut down the Maiduguri-Kano highway. But it seems that if the government fails to address the problem, the road may soon be in the hands of the insurgents. President Buhari had in May 2015 promised to end Boko Haram and improve the security situation in the Northeast. It is now clear from the current state of insecurity that the promise is far from fulfilled.

OE Watch | March 2020 65