24 feared killed as Boko Haram ambush ‘Civilian JTF’

At least 24 members of the youth
vigilante assisting Nigerian security
officials to hunt for members of the
Boko Haram were on Friday killed
after an ambush by members of the
sect, military officials said.
The attack took place near Monguno
Town, 158km from Maiduguri, the
Borno State capital.
A security operative, who doesn’t want
to be quoted in the press as he is not
permitted to do so, said 36 members of
the youth vigilante could not be
accounted for, while the corpses of the
24 slain members of ‘Civilian-JTF’ were
being retrieved.
“They suffered a massive ambush
attack, 24 of them were found dead,
while about 36 of them, according to
few of them who managed to escape
the ambush, could not be accounted
for,” the official said.
Escaped vigilante members told
security officials that those who
attacked them were disguised in
military uniform.
‘The vigilante youths numbering over
100 were on a mission to capture some
Boko Haram terrorists in their camps
around Kaleri, Shuwari, Maganari and
Nannari villages around Monguno local
government area, before they were
ambushed by the terrorists which led
to the death of 24 vigilante youths,
while about 36 were still missing,” our
source said.
The Civilian-JTF are usually
accompanied by soldiers when they go
on their missions; but on that outing
the soldiers did not arrive on time,
PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
“When the youths waited to see the
arrival of military for some hours
without response, they took courage to
go ahead to the suspected terrorists’
hideout.
“But unknown to vigilante, the Boko
Haram sects who disguised in Military
Uniform with three patrol vehicles
painted in military camouflage
confused them thinking their escorts
had arrived ahead. So, as they
approached the men in uniform,
unsuspectingly, and the terrorists
opened fire and killed about 24 of the
Civilian JTF,” the source said while
stating that about 36 of the youth were
still missing
The council chairman of Monguno,
Muhammed Nur Monguno, declined to
speak to journalists at the Government
House, Maiduguri, when he visited to
brief the state governor, Kashim
Shettima, of the incident on Saturday.
The Civilian-JTF have become the
target of the Boko Haram; a situation
that has depleted their rank and
presence in Maiduguri.
Shehu Ibrahim, a member of the
Civilian-JTF, told Journalists in
Maiduguri that “we are getting too
much attacks and our members deaths
is on the rise; I am scared, so are some
of my friends in the vigilante.”
“We may back out if we are not
protected,” he said.
The state’s foremost monarch, the
Shehu of Borno, Abubakar El-Kanemi,
had requested for financial and
material support for the Civilian-JTF.
He was at the general security council
meeting held with the state governor
and other security chiefs in the state
on Saturday.