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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Owners of trucks and drivers conveying goods from the North to the South East have protested against incessant killing of their members by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)

They staged the protest on Sunday in Jos, Plateau State capital, decrying that many of their members had been killed and their vehicles burnt in the attacks.

The drivers, under the umbrella of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (heavy trucks), marched with 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.’

They listed the most dangerous routes as including Enugu-Lopanta-Lopanta-Okigwue and Okigwue to Umuahia in Abia State.

Addressing journalists, Mahmud Jafar, who led the protest, said unprovoked attacks, intimidation and harassment against truck drivers from the North had become the order of the day in recent years.

He said they would boycott the transportation of goods to the South East for their safety and security if the situation persists.

“It is with a heavy heart that we address you today on the continued killing of our members, destruction and burning of our trucks by gunmen suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOP) in the South East of Nigeria

“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.

Narrating some of the incidents that claimed the lives of truck drivers, he said between January and December 2024, more than 20 drivers were brutally killed and their trucks burnt or damaged in the communities of Ehobey, Okigwe, Isoche, and Ehobey local government areas of Imo State.

Jafar said some corpses were recovered while others remained missing.

He said on January 28, 2025, four truck drivers–Haruna Jibril, Bala Muhammad, Dalladi Jafaru, and Auwal Muhammad- carrying tomatoes to Port Harcourt were killed and their goods unloaded between Lobanta community in Imo State and Umahia in Abia State.

He 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 in Okigwe, the DSS office in Okigwe, the army military camp in Okigwe and the Police Headquarters in Imo, “but were are yet 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.

NURTW, truck owners seek probe, FG’s intervention

Hassan Shitu, NURTW chairman, Laranto Branch, 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.

He 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.

Attacks threat to national security – Truck owners

Truck owners, who spoke during the protest, described the killing of their drivers and the destruction of vehicles in the South East as a threat to national security.

They demanded that the federal government conduct a thorough investigation to identify the attackers and prosecute them.

Pankes Moses, a truck owner, said: “We are transporters and transport goods from the north to the east but, we are facing many challenges. “We don’t know if the state governments are aware of what is happening. We pay all the revenue, but yet we’re not safe.

“They create illegal checkpoints where drivers would be forced to pay huge amounts for nothing. Youths would usually block roads and tax our drivers apart from the government-approved checkpoints.”

Lawan Shuaibu, another transporter, stated: “The intimidation is too much. It is as if we were not Nigerians. Just last week Monday, on a broad daylight, one of my drivers traveling to Port Harcourt, was attacked around Four Conner area in Enugu State.

The gunmen opened fire on the truck and injured the driver. They damage the truck.

“The always attack our drivers. The situation is deteriorating. We call on federal government to protect our lives as citizens of the country.”

‘My slain brother left behind 12 children’

Yusuf Adamu, a brother to one of the drivers killed in Imo State on January 28, 2025, said the deceased left behind a wife and 12 children.

“We have tried everything we could to retrieve his corpse, but we couldn’t. We reported the incident to almost all the security agencies in Imo State, but there hasn’t been any trace of him or his colleague.

“The number of people who have lost their lives on that road is countless. We call on the federal government to take necessary action. People from the East have property in the North, and likewise, people from the North have property in the East. If this situation continues, what will be the benefit?

“Why northerners are specifically targeted? Regardless of their tribe, anyone from the North is a target. We are begging the government to do something. We still believe in one Nigeria.”

Police mum

The spokesman of the Imo State Police Command, Henry Okoye, whose area of jurisdiction witnessed attacks on drivers and transporters, when contacted, promised to call back, but he did not.

He also did not reply to a WhatsApp message sent to him.