The murderous three year old
insurgency unleashed on this country by Boko Haram sect has come full
circle with the recent rise in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri of a
phenomenon known as ‘civilian JTF’.
In recent weeks, a youth vigilante group was formed spontaneously in all parts of Maiduguri; its youthful members took it upon themselves to help the authorities to uproot the murderous sect from its unofficial capital by going round city wards, identifying run away sect members, apprehending them and handing them over to the military-led Joint Task Force [JTF].
This important turn of events stemmed directly from the state of emergency that was declared in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe by President Goodluck Jonathan two months ago. Unlike the state of emergency that the president declared in 15 local governments in four states in December 2011, this one was well thought out and was backed up with ample firepower and efficient intelligence. Soldiers poured into all three states within hours of the emergency declaration.
Within a fairly short period of time they chased the insurgents out of the Sambisa forest and all their other redoubts in Marte and other parts of northern Borno State. Scores of insurgents died when the Special Forces bombed their camps and then moved in on the ground. Dozens of Boko Haram fighters as well as many of their top commanders were captured. The surviving insurgents then scattered in various directions and some tried to re-enter Maiduguri and hide in their family homes.
Enter the civilian JTF. Young men fed up with the devastating socio-economic and other effects of Boko Haram’s war which has crippled most economic and social life in Borno and neighbouring states rose up in unison and joined the soldiers and policemen in the hunt for fleeing insurgents. With their knowledge of people and the terrain, these youths went from house to house fishing out insurgents, in many cases beating them up and then handing them over to JTF.
So pleased was JTF with the doings of the youths that it soon put them in charge of stop and search operations at check points. President Jonathan too described them as “new national heroes” which indeed they are, putting themselves in the line of fire in order to help end the most murderous phenomenon that ever visited this country since independence.
Boko Haram’s leaders responded to the calamitous reversal in their fortunes by declaring war on the youths. Most of the sect’s reprisal teams that sneaked back into Maiduguri to carry out attacks ended up being apprehended by the civilian JTF. That the youths at last conquered fear and began this dangerous job of fishing out insurgents, armed only with sticks and cudgels, must be largely due to the confidence they gathered as a result of the upsurge in troop deployment.
The inevitable conclusion was that all along the youths and elders of Borno were fed up with the deeds of Boko Haram but were too fearful to raise a finger against it, armed and merciless that the sect was. This also helps to explain the much greater success recorded by the security agencies in the fight against the sect in Kano for instance as opposed to Maiduguri. Whereas in Kano security agents raided sect hideouts and arms depots on a regular basis clearly due to community cooperation, this was much less visible in Maiduguri, the sect’s nerve centre.
Governor Kashim Shettima said last week that though Boko Haram sect’s leader Abubakar Shekau is a Kanuri man from neighbouring Niger Republic, most of its cadres are of Kanuri ethnic stock, of which Maiduguri is the ancestral home. It was thus easier to identify and inform on them in a Hausa city such as Kano. It has now come to pass that even in Maiduguri, the sect’s fighters were known but could not be ousted until the youths recently gained the confidence to do so.
The rise of civilian JTF and its high level of cooperation with the military-led JTF have instantly solved a debilitating problem for Borno and the country: high civilian casualties occasioned by JTF raids in search of the insurgents. In the days when sect fighters exploded improvised explosive devices or fired at JTF patrols and then vanished into city wards, JTF troops often carried out what amounted to punitive raids in the neighbourhoods.
The soldiers believed that people knew who the insurgents were but were not telling. While the troops suspected complicity, it has been conclusively proved that withholding the information was out of fear. Hence, we join in the general commendation of the civilian JTF and urge them not to relent in making the sacrifices necessary to end this insurgency once and for all.
We are quick to admit here that concerns are already being raised in Maiduguri about the crude nature, coarse conduct and plain excesses of the civilian JTF. This is almost inevitable with such a spontaneously formed, totally untrained and unregulated militia. Most of its members appear to come from deprived sectors of society, including touts, commercial motorcyclists and recharge card vendors, all of whose trades have been crippled by the insurgency and the attendant emergency measures.
Unlike trained forces, the civilian JTF carries out its searches of vehicles and persons very crudely. The soldiers ought to step in here and teach them some basics of the job. The soldiers should also do well to immediately weed out the underage youths that are in the civilian JTF’s ranks.
Finally, there are fears this group itself could spell dangers for the future. Having helped to uproot and banish Boko Haram, its members could easily step into the void and become a nuisance of their own.
The authorities right up to the President are presently happy with the civilian JTF’s members for their contribution to the fight against insurgency. They should begin planning now for these boys’ future when the current battle is over.
In recent weeks, a youth vigilante group was formed spontaneously in all parts of Maiduguri; its youthful members took it upon themselves to help the authorities to uproot the murderous sect from its unofficial capital by going round city wards, identifying run away sect members, apprehending them and handing them over to the military-led Joint Task Force [JTF].
This important turn of events stemmed directly from the state of emergency that was declared in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe by President Goodluck Jonathan two months ago. Unlike the state of emergency that the president declared in 15 local governments in four states in December 2011, this one was well thought out and was backed up with ample firepower and efficient intelligence. Soldiers poured into all three states within hours of the emergency declaration.
Within a fairly short period of time they chased the insurgents out of the Sambisa forest and all their other redoubts in Marte and other parts of northern Borno State. Scores of insurgents died when the Special Forces bombed their camps and then moved in on the ground. Dozens of Boko Haram fighters as well as many of their top commanders were captured. The surviving insurgents then scattered in various directions and some tried to re-enter Maiduguri and hide in their family homes.
Enter the civilian JTF. Young men fed up with the devastating socio-economic and other effects of Boko Haram’s war which has crippled most economic and social life in Borno and neighbouring states rose up in unison and joined the soldiers and policemen in the hunt for fleeing insurgents. With their knowledge of people and the terrain, these youths went from house to house fishing out insurgents, in many cases beating them up and then handing them over to JTF.
So pleased was JTF with the doings of the youths that it soon put them in charge of stop and search operations at check points. President Jonathan too described them as “new national heroes” which indeed they are, putting themselves in the line of fire in order to help end the most murderous phenomenon that ever visited this country since independence.
Boko Haram’s leaders responded to the calamitous reversal in their fortunes by declaring war on the youths. Most of the sect’s reprisal teams that sneaked back into Maiduguri to carry out attacks ended up being apprehended by the civilian JTF. That the youths at last conquered fear and began this dangerous job of fishing out insurgents, armed only with sticks and cudgels, must be largely due to the confidence they gathered as a result of the upsurge in troop deployment.
The inevitable conclusion was that all along the youths and elders of Borno were fed up with the deeds of Boko Haram but were too fearful to raise a finger against it, armed and merciless that the sect was. This also helps to explain the much greater success recorded by the security agencies in the fight against the sect in Kano for instance as opposed to Maiduguri. Whereas in Kano security agents raided sect hideouts and arms depots on a regular basis clearly due to community cooperation, this was much less visible in Maiduguri, the sect’s nerve centre.
Governor Kashim Shettima said last week that though Boko Haram sect’s leader Abubakar Shekau is a Kanuri man from neighbouring Niger Republic, most of its cadres are of Kanuri ethnic stock, of which Maiduguri is the ancestral home. It was thus easier to identify and inform on them in a Hausa city such as Kano. It has now come to pass that even in Maiduguri, the sect’s fighters were known but could not be ousted until the youths recently gained the confidence to do so.
The rise of civilian JTF and its high level of cooperation with the military-led JTF have instantly solved a debilitating problem for Borno and the country: high civilian casualties occasioned by JTF raids in search of the insurgents. In the days when sect fighters exploded improvised explosive devices or fired at JTF patrols and then vanished into city wards, JTF troops often carried out what amounted to punitive raids in the neighbourhoods.
The soldiers believed that people knew who the insurgents were but were not telling. While the troops suspected complicity, it has been conclusively proved that withholding the information was out of fear. Hence, we join in the general commendation of the civilian JTF and urge them not to relent in making the sacrifices necessary to end this insurgency once and for all.
We are quick to admit here that concerns are already being raised in Maiduguri about the crude nature, coarse conduct and plain excesses of the civilian JTF. This is almost inevitable with such a spontaneously formed, totally untrained and unregulated militia. Most of its members appear to come from deprived sectors of society, including touts, commercial motorcyclists and recharge card vendors, all of whose trades have been crippled by the insurgency and the attendant emergency measures.
Unlike trained forces, the civilian JTF carries out its searches of vehicles and persons very crudely. The soldiers ought to step in here and teach them some basics of the job. The soldiers should also do well to immediately weed out the underage youths that are in the civilian JTF’s ranks.
Finally, there are fears this group itself could spell dangers for the future. Having helped to uproot and banish Boko Haram, its members could easily step into the void and become a nuisance of their own.
The authorities right up to the President are presently happy with the civilian JTF’s members for their contribution to the fight against insurgency. They should begin planning now for these boys’ future when the current battle is over.
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