Damaturu–Biu Road: Traders, drivers, passengers decry deteriorating condition, economic slowdown
Story by Sa’adatu MAINA, Damaturu
While much of the discourse around the dilapidated 134-kilometre Damaturu–Buni-Yadi–Biu federal highway has focused on the security threats it poses, traders, farmers, motorists and passengers are raising a different alarm, the road’s decay is slowly suffocating the regional economy and cutting off communities from life-sustaining markets.
A media tour of the strategic artery on Wednesday, undertaken by journalists, revealed not just a security crisis but an unfolding economic disaster.
During the tour, our correspondent conducted interviews with some of the road users. For Abdullahi Umar, a trader who has used the Buni-Gari to Biu route for two decades, the road represents something more fundamental than infrastructure; it is the difference between feeding his family and watching his livelihood rot by the roadside.
“This road is our lifeline,” Umar told Neptune Prime. “It is the only channel through which we move millet, maize, and vegetables from our farms to markets in Damaturu, Biu, and beyond. But now, what should take two hours takes half a day.”
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Umar explained that the road serves as a critical logistics corridor linking five states; Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Adamawa, and Taraba, facilitating the movement of agricultural produce from rural farming communities to urban consumption centres.
“We have been managing this road for 20 years because we have no choice. But managing is not living. If this road dies, we die with it,” he said.
Commercial drivers, who form the backbone of the informal transport system in the region, explained that they are caught between the need to earn a living and the reality of watching their vehicles, often their only assets, break down beyond repair.
Ali Hassan, who has driven on the Damaturu-Biu route for six years, described the road as a “vehicle killer.”
“The potholes are not just holes, they are craters. They swallow tyres, destroy shock absorbers, and break axles,” Hassan said. “I spend more time repairing my vehicle than driving it. “Some of my colleagues have abandoned the trade entirely because they cannot afford the maintenance costs.”
Abdullahi Hussaini, another driver with seven years’ experience on the Biu–Buni-Yadi–Damaturu route, said the economic toll extends beyond drivers to the passengers and communities they serve.
“This is not just about our livelihood. It is about the thousands of people who depend on us to move their goods, visit their families, access hospitals, and attend schools. When the road fails, everything fails,” Hussaini said.
Adama Ibrahim, a passenger travelling from Maiduguri-Damaturu to Gombe, said she is aware of the risks but has no viable alternative.
“The longer route is safer, yes. But it is also more expensive and not everyone can afford it. For many of us, this broken road is the only road,” she said.
Her words highlight a painful reality, for ordinary citizens in the North East, poverty and poor infrastructure have created a trap from which there is no easy escape.
Security challenges along the road remain grave, with military sources confirming daily patrols to clear improvised explosive devices (IEDs) buried by insurgents.
READ ALSO: Military closes Damaturu-Maiduguri highway after insurgent attack in Ngamdu
The Biu–Buni-Yadi–Damaturu road, a 132-kilometre federal corridor, currently serves as a major transit route for heavy trucks moving goods from Borno to other parts of the country. Its deterioration has forced many transporters to divert to longer, costlier alternatives, costs ultimately passed down to consumers.
Towns along the route—Damaturu, Buni-Yadi, Buratai, Miringa, and Biu have seen commercial activity decline as travel times increase and transportation costs soar.
The road waits. The people wait. And the clock ticks.
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