Thread by @JoeWSJ

Outside #Nigeria’s ‘Green Zone,’ Jihadists Rule the Road—a story about the rising violence on the three main highways leading out of Maiduguri, which may now be the world's most dangerous roads. THREAD. wsj.com/articles/outsi…

In the past six months alone—while people have been watching COVID and #EndSARS —more than 200 Nigerians have been murdered or kidnapped on just three of the main roads leading out of the city.

The attacks are conducted by militants fighting for Boko Haram and Islamic State. With each passing month they become more brazen, targeting civilians, aid workers, soldiers and even the state’s most powerful politicians.

In September, militants attacked the heavily-armed convoy of the Borno state governor leaving 20 people dead. In July, 37 Nigerian special forces soldiers were killed. Two weeks later five aid workers who were abducted were executed.

In recent weeks, dozens more have been kidnapped or murdered, including government officials from the Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement. On Tuesday, 7 guests from a wedding party including the bride, were abducted. They are still missing.

“Whenever we leave the road from Maiduguri, we just say our final goodbyes to our family in case we don’t return,” said Ahmed Shehu, chairman of Borno’s Civil Society Forum, who lost a friend in a militant attack this summer. “The terrorists rule the road.”

The highway attacks have become so frequent in recent months that some are no longer even reported. Aid agencies, including ICRC & IRC, have stopped using the roads after their employees were killed, forcing aid workers to travel to refugee camps by helicopter and light aircraft.

Truck and taxi drivers and their passengers, with no option but to ply the road, can only travel on most major routes with a military escort, yet some complain that makes them even more of a target.

The swelling tide of lawlessness on these highways comes amid the government’s faltering “supercamp” strategy to combat the decadelong insurgency, which has metastasized into one of the world’s deadliest jihadist campaigns.

The strategy, which has consolidated military forces in big cities, has created a paradox: Garrisoned cities like Maiduguri feel more secure but surrounding roads & countryside have become a kind of no man’s land,plagued by even deeper levels of insecurity.

This is Sani Adamu, who still has a bullet in his back after being shot by Boko Haram while driving along the Damaturu road. Mr. Adamu said the fighters emerged on the roadside and began spraying the traffic with gunfire. One of his passengers died. Another lost both his eyes.

Another driver, Ahmadu Kachalla, said that on 3 occasions he has had to make an emergency U-turn and speed away after realizing the checkpoint ahead was manned not by the Nigerian army, but by jihadist fighters: “The attacks are now so common, they have become almost normal.”

Some drivers say the only way to survive is to pay protection money to Boko Haram. Others say that even if they avoid the militants’ mobile checkpoints, members of security services will force them to pay a bribe, usually referred to as “water money.”

Governor Zulum once drove a taxi to pay his way through college, but his convoy has been attacked twice in recent months. He told President Buhari in August that the super-camp strategy was “unwise and not working.”

The drivers and their passengers say they need urgent assistance from the government. Sani Adamu called for immediate action: “We have no other occupation to cater for our families other than driving on these dangerous roads.”

Read the full story and see the great photos from @fatiabubakarrr here: wsj.com/articles/outsi…