In a bid to transport food stuff from Niger despite the security situation in that part of the West African sub-region, a Ghanaian driver has been shot and currently in critical condition by gunmen suspected to be jihadist terrorists who went further to burn several trucks.
The injured diver who is reported to be receiving treatment at a health facility in Niger, was one of a group of divers who chose to ply the Burkina Faso route to bring food to Ghana.
They had been stuck following the closure of the Niger borders occasioned by the military coup in that country, which has brought it into disagreement with the regional bloc ECOWAS.
According to Joy News, the drivers tried to go past the Burkina Faso border after waiting without success for security escorts. However, before they could succeed, a group of terrorists launched an armed attack on them.
The terrorists reportedly burnt about four trucks during the attack.
Massahoudu Dambala who owns the Damabala Enterprise and has about 35 trucks used to transport food from Niger to Ghana, described what took place to Joynews, saying the drivers refused to stop as instructed by the terrorists.
“They were standing there waiting for escorts but they were not coming so one of the cars decided to go ahead and when they succeeded, ours also said let’s try and see. Immediately we started moving, the jihadist people started coming out.
“They tried to stop them but they refused, not knowing that they were many. They started shooting them so some of them returned and some abandoned their trucks.
Our car was in front so when they got there, they burnt the car. The car had about 450 bags of beans so they burnt the car together with about 3 or 4 cars,” he is quoted to have told Accra-based Joy News.
Niger has been under military rule for weeks now following the overthrow of Mohamed Bazoum and his government. The insecurity in the country has affected the movement of goods and humans to and from that country.
