CIVILIAN JTF & THE HUNT FOR BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS; Judging the Nigerian Army wrongly?

CIVILIAN-JTF & THE HUNT FOR BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS; Judging the Nigerian Army wrongly? 

By Abdulkareem Haruna Umar

Last week the international media community was agog with stories about how the Nigerian Army officials had abdicated their responsibility of fighting  the Boko Haram terrorists to civilian vigilante - a group of  young men who styled themselves as Civilian-JTF, playing off the operational name of the conventional military Joint Task Force (JTF). 

The military was being vilified for allowing young men armed with sticks and clubs to endanger their lives by confronting a heavily armed and trigger/detonator-excited Boko Haram terrorists. At least, giving a rough estimate, about 50 of these naive but courageous young men had died as a result of their encounters with Boko Haram. Some died of gunshots, others by their necks being slit with the knives of Boko Haram. Perhaps more are still being killed by the insurgents whose leaders Abubakar Shekau had threatened to deal with in a video message he released on the 12th of August, 2013. 

Of course, it is unheard of anywhere in the world , that soldiers that had sworn to protect both the  internal and territorial integrity of  their country, should hand over - or to say it kindly, push unarmed young men before the blazing rifles of trigger-excited terrorists. As a matter of fact, the military should be made to take responsibility for the death of these young men.

But on the other hand, there is a need to also look at the scenario that actually brought about the need or the acceptance of the Civilian-JTF as an alternative approach to ending the Boko Haram bloodshed. 

Since 2010 when the Abubakar Sheakau-led  Boko Haram resurfaced after their temporary debacle in 2009, to date, not less than 500 policemen died trying to unravel the mystery called Boko Haram. In 2010, a special task force led by soldiers was formed at the state level, and the killing or bombing of soldiers commenced; no less than 100 soldiers were officially declared and confirmed to have lost their lives. The federal government had in June 2011 formed a Joint Task Force to tackle the unending Boko Haram menace under the code name 'Operation Restore Order'.  Since 2011 to date, scores of soldiers were killed with reckless abandon. Armed soldiers and ordinary civilians, had become vulnerable before the Boko Haram upon whose feet they fall like insects killed by insecticides. 

This was not because, the soldiers lacked the war chest to confront Boko Haram. No. It was and it is because the soldiers were fighting a war they don't understand. They don't understand because they don't know whom they are fighting,. They don't know whom they are fighting because there wasn't difference between the civilians they are out to protect and the Insurgents they were out to fight. 

Boko Haram held sway amongst the people they intimidated and cowed into fear of not revealing their identity. Many that dared to inform the police or the military were killed - and hundreds of innocent and patriotic civilians had gone down six feet under for telling the security agencies about Boko Haram. 

At a point soldiers had to go wild by opening fire on neighborhoods where bombs targeted at them go off and killing many innocent or burning houses because the residents could not tell or help to reveal the attackers out of fear. 

Hundreds of children were orphaned and counts of women widowed because Boko Haram crawled upon sleeping residents and slaughter them for no cause. 

More soldiers died because women and children were being used by Boko Haram either as shields or as vehicle to ferry their arms and explosive devices. Many women have been arrested of late carrying  AK 47 rifles on their backs as though they were carrying  babies. 

Soldiers had to barricade roads, or close business outfits around their posts, an act that had succeeded in crippling the economy of the state. Young men and women in their hundreds have lost jobs or have to flee the state due to hardship. 

Telecommunication lines were grounded for about four months and night life grounded to a halt. Yet death toll increased. 

Soldiers had to restrict themselves to their security posts to avoid unnecessary death as no one seemed to be helping out to point out who the Boko Haram is. 

Citizens were at a point left to their fate, as soldiers would say 'your people are the ones killing you and attacking us, if you cannot tell us who they are or where they are hiding, they will continue killing you'. 

The residents were pushed to the wall; they had to conquer their fears or die in it. 

In the first week of June, a bunch of courageous youngmen in Hausari ward of Maiduguri, conquered their fears by calling bluff of two Boko Haram gunmen trying to forcefully take money from a trader, and wrestled them until they were disarmed. And since then, the Civilian-JTF courage spread with contagious impact. At least 1000 youngmen and women have subscribed to the Civilian-JTF VIGILANTE. And since their arrival more than 500 Boko Haram were arrested. 

The youth are still defying the dangers,as they say 'nothing will stop us, not even death'. 

So the military had not abdicated its role in the battle to stop Boko Haram. To an average Borno state man, the best thing that had ever happened to them is the Civilian-JTF, and they would do everything to sustain it. At least in the past two months, not a single gunshot was heard within the Maiduguri metropolis. Thanks to Civilian JTF. 

The Nigetian Chief of Army Staff, Ihejirika had visited Borno state last week and drummed supprt for the Civilian-JTF,  whom he pledged supprt of the military. 

Despite the killing of 13 of tem today 8th September, 2013, the Civilian JTF are saying they are not deterred.