The town lay about a mile ahead, hidden behind rocky hills and
baobab trees. There was still one more checkpoint to pass before
we entered Chibok. We had left Maiduguri early and spent the night
in Yola. The regular route from Maiduguri to Chibok, which passed
through Damboa and normally takes two hours, was still in the hands
of Boko Haram, so we had to divert through Damaturu in Yobe State,
and then to Gombe in Gombe State, getting to Yola in Adamawa
State by nightfall—a detour of a little over 800 kilometres.
We left Yola at 10:00 in the morning. This was the coolest it
ever gets in these parts, with temperatures falling to the low fifties
Fahrenheit at night. It was January, the middle of the season of
Harmattan, a wind that blows in from the Sahara, carrying with
it dust from the great desert. The fine sand particles go right into
your nostrils and eyes, dehydrate the skin, crack the lips, and induce
coughing fits and general discomfort.