We’re ready for military training – Civilain JTF

The Legal Adviser and Spokesperson for the Civilian JTF, Jubrin Gunda, in this interviewwith Kayode Idowu seeks support from the Federal Government including military training in order to assist soldiers in their anti-terrorism campaign

Sir, how many are your members?

Our strength all over Borno State is over 10,000 people. We have members in all the 27 local government areas of the state.

How do you coordinate over 10,000 members and ensure that they do not get involved in criminal activities?

Our boys are alive to their responsibilities and they are reliable. We also always make them take an oath. Anybody who is interested in joining Civilian JTF will take oath with the Koran (if he is a Muslim) that his mission is to return peace to Borno State and not to indulge in any criminal activity. If the person is a Christian, he will swear with the Bible in the public before he is accepted as a member of the Civilian JTF.

Who is providing you with ammunition and money now?

We do not have ammunition; we fight with machetes, sticks, bows and arrows. We source for them by ourselves. We have been clashing with them in the bush with the sticks and machetes; they have their RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers) and their AK47s. But the moment they see Civilian JTF, they drop those things and run away. So, we have the zeal to protect our area and we are prepared to do that.

So in essence you are not afraid to face them should they march on Maiduguri?

We are not afraid to face them at any moment. We are waiting for them; at any material moment they should come and they will meet their match in us.

It is believed that your members are only able to confront Boko Haram with inferior weapons because they have traditional bulletproof. Is this true?

Traditional bulletproof or what did you say? Every society has its own way of doing things. Definitely there are a lot of things you can do. It is a fact that once we are out, the RPGs being held by the insurgents cannot work.

So what prevents them from working?

It is an act of God and they know that their RPGs and AK47 rifles cannot work on us.

Is this as result of a local charm?

It may be anything but definitely it does not work on us. That is the reason they fear us more; they do not fear the soldiers as they fear the Civilian JTF. That is why you see that they continually emphasise on the Civilian JTF in their broadcast. It is because we are impenetrable.

Is the Civilian JTF involved in intelligence gathering for the military and other security outfits?

We are involved, definitely whenever we hear any information we pass it across to the military or the security agents.

What challenges are you facing?

As an organisation, we have a lot of challenges but the Borno State Government is assisting us to overcome most of them. We still need more assistance and logistics because we have financial constraints. Though the state government is tremendously assisting us, we still need more supports. The state government is the only body shouldering some of our responsibilities apart from the personal contributions we make from time to time.

Are you now saying that you are desirous of support from the Federal Government?

Definitely we desire and we deserve to be supported by the Federal Government.

You said Civilian JTF deserved to be supported by the Federal Government. You also said your members are prepared to be trained on weapon handling. Are you calling for a military training?

If that is what the Federal Government wants, we are willing and ready for it. What we want is the restoration of peace to Borno State, to the North-East and the entire country. We are prepared for whatever support that will be given to us to complement the efforts of our gallant security personnel. We are ready to face any challenge; we have been pursuing the Boko Haram insurgents to the bush with machetes, bows and arrows.

We learnt that some of your members are undercover Boko Haram operatives, is this true?

It is not true. We have been fishing out and handling those suspected to be sympathisers of the Boko Haram sat among us to the security agencies.

After the insurgency might have been suppressed, what do you think should be done to ensure that it does not rear its head again in the North-East?

Not only in the North-East, the issue of insurgency is creeping everywhere in the country and our priority should be to totally flush it out from the entire nation. We are all Nigerians and no one would wish that we have insurgency in any other part of the country.

Some people have called for community policing, what is your take on this?

Community policing is a very well thought out idea because once it is introduced like the Civilian JTF, everyone from his locality will be used and involved. Once this is adopted, it will go a long way in tackling insecurity in the country.

How many Boko Haram insurgents have Civilian JTF members killed or able to capture?

We do not kill; we capture and hand them to security personnel.

But in confrontation, are you saying you do not kill them?

If they kill, you kill but in such a situation you cannot be counting how many died. We do not do that, we do not have such opportunity.

So how many of your men have been killed by Boko Haram?

Well just as of last week when the insurgents attacked a village called Ngom along Gamboru Ngala and our boys went there, they succeeded in killing about 14 of our boys. They were killed not with guns or knives or any other arms but the insurgents held them, tied their arms and legs and marched on them with their feet. They thereafter strangled their necks. They were not killed with other guns but they used force on the boys.

Do you torture Boko Haram insurgents when you capture them?

No, once we capture them we hand them over to the security agents and that is all. It is left for the security agents to decide what to do with them. We do not do anything but to capture them and hand them over to the security agents.

When your members kill Boko Haram insurgents and recover their ammunition, what do you do with them?

Since we are not allowed to carry arms, we give them to the security agents and most times we are always there with the soldiers when they are captured and it is the job of the soldiers to mop up the ammunition.

So what are you doing to Boko Haram insurgents who have captured and occupied some communities?

The Boko Haram insurgents are systematically being displaced from the captured towns. Within this week alone they mounted up to six attacks on Konduga in particular and all were successfully repelled and a lot of them were killed. In fact along the Konduga axis, I can tell you that over 1,000 of them have been killed.

How do you intend to recapture a place like Gwoza that had been captured by insurgents?

One woman who just escaped from Bama came to my office and explained that residents look for a location and lock themselves up there when it is nightfall. They will only come out in the day because of the fear of being attacked at night. Even in Gwoza, the insurgents are not many; we have very few of them patrolling and within the shortest possible time Gwoza will be liberated. We are prepared to go over there to liberate the people.

How do you intend to bring back emirs and other traditional rulers that have fled their respective towns?

The emirs and chiefs that have fled their towns, obviously, have to do that for security reasons. Many of them never wanted to leave because of their subjects but were compelled to leave. The moment the place is safe after the terrorists must have been eliminated, the emirs will go back. We have put in place strong security measures to ensure that the towns are not recaptured by the insurgents.

Who protects the aged and children that cannot run for safety when the Boko Haram insurgents attack their communities?

I cannot tell you specifically who is protecting the aged and the other people that cannot run away. It is God who is protecting them. The insurgents themselves hardly touch this set of people.

Apart from the state government that has been assisting you; do prominent indigenes of Borno State offer to help you in one way or the other?

Just recently, the Borno Elders Forum approached the Civilian JTF with a proposal of assisting us and we have told them that whatever assistance they can give is highly welcome. As you know, it is only the Borno State Government that has been assisting us and that is why we keep calling on the Federal Government to come and empower the Civilian JTF so that we can effectively assist security agencies.