“It’s a fight to finish; it’s either us or them”: shifting trust from Civilian Joint Task Force and embracing self-defence in counter-terrorism in northeast, Nigeria

The northeast of Nigeria has witnessed over two decades of Boko Haram terrorism. The government’s efforts to address the problem have left a trust gap that alienates members of the local communities from counter-terrorism (CT) operations. To improve the situation, some vigilante groups volunteered to participate in the CT operations as the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and, on the process, gained the people’s trust. The group’s efforts were very impactful until it became politicised, leading to the distrust that incentivises self-defence in CT among the local population. Drawing from field research involving 50 participants and secondary literature, this study investigated how politicisation of the CJTF resulted in shifting trust from the group and encouraging the local population to embrace self-defence in CT in northeast, Nigeria. Findings show that politicisation of the CJTF has eroded the trust the people earlier had on the group, given the service mutation that not only limited their effectiveness in CT operations but also set them as oppressors of the local community, leading the people to embrace self-defence. To regain the lost trust and strengthen its CT focus, the CJTF must be overhauled to exorcise the group of criminal elements.