The Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) is a loose group of militants that was formed in

Maiduguri Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border form ...

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

to help oust

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

Islamist fighters from their city. The group possesses basic weapons and has female members. The vigilante group numbers over 26,000 in the northeastern Borno and

Yobe State Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

s, of which only 1,800 receive a salary ( $50 per month). The CJTF has suffered about 600 casualties in the conflict, counting both lost and missing members. The CJTF has been accused of abuses, including slaughtering men beside a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

, diverting food destined for starving families and beating men and subjecting women and girls to systematic sexual violence in camps.

References

Boko Haram Borno State Counterterrorism in Nigeria Rebel groups in Nigeria Vigilantes Yobe State {{Nigeria-stub