1. Being trying to keep my movement unsuspicious in the last few days with my tweets. But Yours Truely just returned from an independent trip to Monguno. And I can say, things are shaping up but not where we would like it to be.

On arrival, you' ll see the ruins of war.

2. The road was lonely and deserted. My partner, guide & I kept our phones away during this stretch to enable us have a sense of awareness during this part of the journey.

3. Google Map will tell you that Maiduguri-Monguno is 2 hrs 40 mins. But we joined a military convoy and had the real taste of things. We spent 5 hours 22 mins. Most of the time was spent scanning the road for IEDs and clearance drills.

4. At Fariram, there was a hamlet, with the presence of life. But Gajigana & Gajiram were the major highlights. Soldiers opened fire at this section of the trip, to scare off intending ambushes.

Though not in the news, I learned some people were abducted here 2 weeks ago.

5. In fact, a greater number abducted did not make the news.

6. All through this trip, soldiers had their guns cocked and hands on a trigger.

A soldier said, 'This road is the most volatile road in Borno. Anything can happen anytime. They see us, we know.'

7. At Monguno, we toured the camps immediately - Fulatari, Gardner Low Cost, Waterboard Camp, GDSS, Ngurno, GGSS, NRC 1 & 2.

8. Heck oh heck!

145,218 displaced persons lived here and were spread across the 12 camps. This is the reason the governor is fighting hard to resettle the people. Though mostly catered for by INGOs, Monguno typifies a humanitarian crisis.

9. Fulatari Camp, Waterboard Camp (where 62 IDPs (one death) where affected by a fire incidence in March 2020) and Stadium Camp.

10. A 10 kilometer road connects the town to the 8 Div Task Force Monguno and this road recently opened again for commuting, is heavily guarded by the Army. We took a walk round the town later in the evening.

11. The Airforce has a squadron deployed there for the sustenance of its air activities. There is a helipad in Monguno.

The garrison is some sort of Joint Military Base even though it doesnt function as one. But this has some serious potentials if mined.

12. Most of the officers and men agreed that the Monguno-Maiduguri road needed unflinched air surveillance which you can only get from the deployments of UAVs. HUMINT has its limitations and chief amongst it is fatigue.

13. It is also impracticable to station adequate guardposts (or checkpoints) on the Monguno-Maiduguri road. You will need to have significant support weapons & soldiers at every guardpost. A weakness here will attract ambush from the enemy. A soldier puzzled, 'how many we be?'

14. We were accomodated at a secondary school (which was no longer serving the purpose), .

That evening was memorable. I renewed my love for fried grasshoppers (fara). We got fresh suya as well from some of the comrades. And of course, jars of coffee to cancel the night.

15. Monguno-Maiduguri is quiet, could be safe but it is as dangerous as it gets. And in the words of that soldier, it is 'the most volatile road'. FG will need to take seriously, equipping the military with UAVs.

Back to Abuja for a break & preparing for the next trip.