The killing of drivers and owners of trucks conveying goods from the North to the South East members by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have sparked protest in Jos, the capital of Plateau State on Sunday.
The drivers, under the aegis of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (heavy trucks), alleged that many of their members had been killed and their vehicles burnt in the attacks.
The protesters carrying placards with different inscriptions such as ‘Stop killing northern drivers’, ‘Tinubu should protect our members’, and ‘Enough of burning and destruction of our trucks in the South East,’ marched through the street of the city.
According to Mahmud Jafar, who led the protest, truck drivers from the North have been subjected to unprovoked attacks, intimidation and harassment which he said had become the order of the day in recent years.
He said the most dangerous routes are the Enugu-Lopanta-Lopanta-Okigwue and Okigwue to Umuahia in Abia State, adding that they would stop transporting goods to the South East if the situation persists.
“For the past eight years, truck drivers from northern Nigeria have been consistently targeted, killed, and had their trucks destroyed or burnt while transporting goods to the south east. We are still trying to understand what offence we have committed to deserve this kind of barbaric killing.
“The frequency and severity of these attacks have reached alarming levels, with over 50 drivers lost, many still missing, and hundreds of trucks either burned, damaged, or forcefully taken away from drivers.
“Goods, including cattle, perishable items, and grains, are deliberately burned, destroyed, and stolen by the perpetrators on daily basis,” Jafar said.
According to Jafar, from January to December 2024, more than 20 drivers were brutally killed and their trucks burnt or damaged in Ehobey, Okigwe, Isoche, and Ehobey local government areas of Imo State, adding that said some corpses were recovered while others remained missing.
He said on January 28, 2025, four truck drivers–Haruna Jibril, Bala Muhammad, Danladi Jafaru, and Auwal Muhammad – transporting tomatoes to Port Harcourt were killed and their goods unloaded between Lobanta community in Imo State and Umahia in Abia State.
Jafar said the perpetrators filmed the empty trucks and sent the videos to the vehicle owners to confirm that they had killed the victims and when the owners called the perpetrators to demand the release of the victims’ bodies, they were told to forget about them.
He said the incident was reported on January 28 to the Police Area Command, the DSS office, the army military camp all iin Okigwe and the Police Headquarters in Imo, “but we are yet to know the whereabouts of the corpses or the trucks.
“Just yesterday, suspected IPOB members in the Four Corner community of Nkanu West LGA of Enugu State opened fire on a truck carrying perishable items heading to Port Harcourt. Luckily, the driver and his assistants survived the attack. These sad incidents continue unabated without any serious move to stop them,” Jafar added.
Truck owners described the killing of their drivers and the destruction of vehicles in the South East as a threat to national security.
They demanded the Federal Government to do a thorough investigation to identify the attackers and prosecute them.
NURTW chairman, Laranto Branch, Hassan Shitu, said drivers and truck owners had been pushed to the wall, hence the need to call the attention of the government to arrest the situation and appealed to the government for intervention.
“Our challenge is that we live in the northern part of the country, but we find it difficult to operate in the eastern part. They beat our drivers, damage our vehicles without any provocation. Just recently, they seized our truck, and the drivers are nowhere to be found.
“We are pleading with the government to look into what is happening to us in the East. Our lives are always in danger. This has been happening for a long time. We have reported various incidents, but up till now, we are yet to see any action,” he said.
