Families of 13 passengers abducted on Biu‑Damaturu road call for help 60 days later

By Ndahi Marama

The families of 13 passengers who were abducted, including a 7‑month‑old baby, have gathered outside the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Borno Council office in Maiduguri. They have urged the government and security agencies to intensify efforts to recover the victims.

On Saturday, Mr. Hassan Yati spoke on behalf of the families. He said the group is weighed down by pain, fear and uncertainty after the abduction of 13 travelers who left Biu Local Government Area for Maiduguri on 15 April 2026. Their vehicle was ambushed by suspected ISWAP/Boko Haram insurgents along the Biu‑Buratai‑Kamuya road, and the passengers never reached their destination.

While the families celebrated the recent rescue of 360 abducted women, children and men from Ngoshe and the release of 11 fisherwomen from Askira Uba, they noted that their joy is incomplete because their loved ones remain captive.

Yati called on the government to rehabilitate the Borno segment of the Biu‑Damaturu road to improve safety for commuters.

He expressed gratitude to the media for their presence, compassion and willingness to convey the families’ pain to the government, the Nigerian people and the international community. “Your support gives grieving families a voice at a time when many of us are struggling to remain strong,” he said.

Yati repeated that the families are “weighed down by pain, fear and uncertainty” over the abduction of 13 travelers who left Biu for Maiduguri on 15 April 2026. Their vehicle was ambushed by suspected ISWAP/Boko Haram insurgents along the Biu‑Buratai‑Kamuya road, and the passengers never reached their destination.

He added that 60 days have passed since the disappearance, a period marked by unanswered questions, sleepless nights and children waiting for parents who never returned. On that day, two overloaded golf station wagon vehicles carrying innocent passengers were stopped by armed insurgents and driven into the bush to an unknown destination. Among those abducted was a mother carrying her seven‑month‑old baby who had just recovered from illness. There were young graduates traveling to Maiduguri for their NYSC deployment, a husband and wife from Hawul Local Government Area, and two brothers full of dreams. Young men and women hoping to begin new chapters of their lives after years of struggle. None of them imagined that an ordinary journey of less than six hours would become a nightmare stretching into months.

Yati noted that attacks and abductions along this road are becoming frighteningly common. Yet for many communities across Biu, Hawul, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo and Shani local government areas in Southern Borno Senatorial District, this dangerous road remains the only link to Maiduguri. “No Nigerian deserves this suffering. No family deserves to live with this kind of uncertainty. Every passing day deepens the wounds in the hearts of families left behind,” he lamented.

He asked how one explains to a six‑year‑old girl, Deborah Michael, that her father and mother who left Biu for Maiduguri have not arrived after two months; how Baba Mustapha sleeps knowing his two sons who squeezed into a vehicle boot have vanished; how Mr. Musa Wakawa comforts himself after losing contact with his wife and daughter. Yati said these are not just names but fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters whose absence has left families emotionally shattered.

Despite the pain, the families have not lost hope. They have seen the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, the Nigerian Army and security agencies in securing the release of other abducted victims in recent weeks. Those successes remind them that rescue is possible and that their loved ones can still come home alive.

Yati appealed to President Tinubu, Governor Zulum, National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, Hon Midala Usman Balami, Hon Ahmed Usman Jaha, Barr. Daniel Bwala (Special Advisor to the President on Policy Communication and Media), the Nigerian Army and all relevant security agencies to remember the travelers abducted on 15 April 2026. He urged urgent measures to protect innocent travelers using the Biu‑Damaturu‑Maiduguri road by increasing security presence and improving surveillance across the route. He also called for the rehabilitation of the Borno segment of the Biu‑Damaturu road to ease movement and reduce vulnerability for commuters. Commercial transport operators should maintain proper passenger manifests for all trips to aid accountability and emergency response.

Yati appealed to the international community, humanitarian organisations, community leaders and well‑meaning Nigerians to stand with them and amplify this cry for help. He asked elected and appointed officials to lend their voices and influence to the cause, saying, “Perhaps God placed you in those positions for a moment like this. Please stand for your people. Please help us bring our families back alive. We refuse to believe they have been forgotten.”

The post 60 days after: Families of 13 abducted passengers along Biu‑Damaturu road cry for help appeared first on Vanguard News.