At least, 1,773 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) have died while fighting the war against Boko Haram and Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists in the North East.
In an interview with NAN in Maiduguri on Saturday, the Chairman of CJTF, Babashehu Abdulganiu hinted that the deaths were recorded between 2012 and 2022.
He noted that the operatives paid the supreme price while fighting terrorists alongside the military in their enclaves in Sambisa Forest and the Lake Chad area.
Abdulganiu said that some died repelling attacks in Maiduguri while others sacrificed their lives by hugging suicide bombers during attempts to attack innocent people.
The chairman disclosed that in spite of the high casualty figure, the CJTF remained resolute in its determination to support the military in riding the state of terrorists.
He said that the group, which is now backed by law, commenced their activities in a bid to rid the state of all forms of terrorism and criminal activities.
“It started in 2012 when our youths picked up sticks and said no more boko haram and we successfully pushed the terrorist group out of Maiduguri to their enclaves in Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad.
“In 2015, the Borno State government established the Borno Youths Empowerment Scheme (BOYES), where 23,000 Civilian Joint Task Force members were enlisted as security vanguards, trained by military and screened by the Department of State Security (DSS)", Abdulganiu added.
He maintained that during the screening exercise, those involved in drug abuse or had been convicted of a crime were screened out.
This, he said was to avoid recruiting bad eggs into the force, adding that they adopted military- like structures that were existing as Sectors.
Abdulganiu informed that members of CJTF deployed its men to occupy the checkpoints from Sector 1 to Sector 10.
He said that the establishment of BOYES through which members were paid monthly allowances, assisted in ending youth restiveness and unemployment as well as reduced minor crimes in Maiduguri.
The chairman revealed that Borno state government spends N150 million monthly on allowances for the CJTF, in addition to providing vehicles, working tools and light weapons.
Abdulganiu added that the state government also recruited additional 2,700 neighbourhood watch vanguards that were trained by the Nigerian police and paid N20,000 monthly allowances in order to compliment the efforts of the security agencies in combating crimes.
Unlike the CJTF attached to the Nigerian military, he hinted that the Neighborhood Watch is embedded in the society to report local crimes.
”They were also attached to various village and district heads for information and intelligence gathering and sharing", he said.
He disclosed that the state government has spent N300 million to support the education of 300 orphans of 300 slain CJTF members.
Each of the families of the slain CJTF members recieved N1million to send their children to schools of their choice.
Abdulganiu hinted that CJTF had supported 50 of its youths to acquire degrees and diplomas in tertiary institutions across the country.
He asserted that an International Non Governmental Organisation (INGO), NEEM foundation is also supporting 60 of the orphans left behind by the slain operatives.
Abdulganiu informed that the out-going Theartre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, supported 300 families drawn across the 27 Local Government Areas with food and other relief materials while some of their members were recruited into the Nigerian Army.
He pointed out that the CJTF operatives were trained on mainstreaming human rights into their operations while their code of conduct was guided by international best practices.
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