Nigeria's Borno state bans sale of petrol to curb militant attacks

Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, the epicentre of decades-long insurgency, on Saturday said it was banning the sale of petrol in a bid to curtail a resurgence of militant attacks.

"I have directed the immediate ban on the sale of petrol in Bama town, ...and other parts of Bama Local Government Area with immediate effect," Borno state governor Babagana Umara Zulum was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.

The ban is part of the "state government's strategic response to counter insurgency operations", the statement added.

The cutting of fuel supplies for vehicles is expected to restrict the militants' mobility.

Major enclave

The town targeted by the ban is the largest after the state capital Maiduguri, and sits on the fringes of Sambisa forest, a major enclave of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of Boko Haram.

The town witnessed the worst devastation by Boko Haram militants who seized it in 2014 and killed hundreds of residents.

Northeastern Nigeria has seen an upsurge in militant attacks in recent weeks, reigniting a grinding 16-year conflict that has left more than 40,000 dead and displaced some two million people.

More than 100 people have been killed in the region since April.

The state of Borno in particular, where the Boko Haram group emerged 16 years ago, remains the epicentre of the conflict in Africa's most populous country.