The convoy of a Nigerian governor was attacked by militants suspected to be linked to the Islamic State (IS) using a donkey strapped with explosives.
Governor Babagana Zulum Borno’s convoy was ambushed on Sunday as he was returning to the state capital, Maiduguri.
The governor was earlier attacked on Friday by militants while he was travelling to an area near Lake Chad on Friday. 18 people – 14 police officers and soldiers and four civilians – were said to have died in the Friday incident.
On Sunday, the militants placed a donkey ladened with bombs on the road his convoy was passing. When soldiers saw the animal, they shot at it and the explosives then went off and the militants immediately came out from their hide-out to open fire on the convoy.
A number of insurgents were killed in the ensuing shoot-out. No-one in the convoy – including the governor – was injured but some vehicles were damaged by bullets, the official said.
At least 18 people – 14 police officers and soldiers and four civilians – were killed in Friday’s ambush.
The governor had toured Baga town in preparation for the return of thousands of residents displaced by Boko Haram militants in 2014.
Meanwhile, opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the attacks on the motorcade of Borno state Governor, Babagana Zulum, by insurgents resulting in the killing of some security operatives attached to the governor.
The party condemned the attack in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan.
Ologbondiyan said that the repeated attacks on the governor as well as the rising wave of terrorist attacks, reinforced apprehensions of security compromises and lapses in the country.
He said the repeated attacks on the governor also stressed the need to immediately rejig the nation’s security `apparatchik’.
This is particularly with Gov. Zulum’s insistence that the security architecture in the North-East axis is being compromised.
“Our party is alarmed by the frightening situation where insurgents now have the temerity of repeated attacks on the armed convoy of a state governor.
“This highlights the nightmare being witnessed by ordinary compatriots, as soft targets, in various troubled areas across our dear nation.
“The PDP restates our call to President Muhammadu Buhari to heed the call by well-meaning Nigerians, including the two chambers of the National Assembly, to immediately rejig the nation’s security apparatchik.
“Mr president should rejig the nation’s security apparatchik by replacing his service chiefs with fresh hands to effectively confront the security challenges facing our nation,”he said.
Ologbondiyan commiserated with Zulum as well as the families of the victims of these incessant attacks and urged the governor not to be deterred.
“The PDP also salutes the gallantry of our troops fighting in the fronts in spite of the odds and urged Nigerians to remain prayerful and alert in this trying time,” he said.