Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum frowned at restrictions and delays for farmers at security checkpoints along the Mafa-Gaboru road on the outskirts of Maiduguri Metropolis.
Chronicle NG reports that farm products are perishable, and as such, any form of transportation impediment affects their quality before storage.
Four years after incessant attacks in the Lake Chad area, the Borno State government, alongside the military, has reopened the 137-kilometre Maiduguri-Dikwa-Mafa-Gamboru Ngala Road for motorists.
During the tape-cutting event held on Friday, Governor Babagana Zulum commended the military and local vigilantes for securing the region and urged the road users to be law-abiding as well as cooperate with security agencies for the full return of economic activities in the area.
The symbolic reopening of the road was done at Muna before the governor proceeded to Dikwa town to ensure that the road had been formally reopened.
The governor, Zulum along with the Theatre Commander of the Joint Taskforce Operation Hadin Kai, Major General Christopher Musa, cut the tape, signifying the official reopening of the road.
The Maiduguri-Gamboru Ngala Federal Highway is one of the busiest and most popular commercial roads linking the northeast sub-region to Cameroon, Chad, and the Niger Republic.
Three years ago, the road was shut down as a result of several attacks on the major towns of Dikwa, Mafa, and Gamboru Ngala, crippling economic activities.
Goni Bura, a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state during the event, told Channels Television that the reopening of the highway will benefit not only Nigerian citizens but those in Cameroon and the Niger Republic.
He also appreciated the state government for donating patrol vehicles to the security agents.
Before the reopening, the military had been escorting passengers and travellers to and fro on the highway to protect them from insurgency attacks.
