Militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) used a donkey strapped with explosives to ambush the convoy of Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum.
He was returning to the state capital, Maiduguri, from Baga town when the convoy was ambushed on Sunday, two days after he had survived another attack while travelling to an area near Lake Chad.
The BBC reports that at least 18 people were killed in that ambush, among whom were 14 police officers and soldiers and four civilians.
Zulum was returning from Baga where he had accompanied hundreds of residents who returned to the town they fled in 2014 following deadly jihadist attacks.
The BBC was told that when soldiers saw the donkey strapped with explosives along the road, they shot at it.
Explosives then went off and the militants immediately came out from their hide-out to open fire on the convoy, an official who was in one of the vehicles in Governor Zulum’s convoy told the BBC.
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.
Despite regional efforts to end Boko Haram’s campaign of violence, the group has stepped up its attacks in recent months.
