Vigilante youths and counterinsurgency in Northeastern Nigeria: the civilian joint task force

Building on the broader literature on vigilantism, communal war and conflict, this paper examines why and how the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in northeastern Nigeria mobilized into a pro-government militia with the aim of extirpating Boko Haram insurgents, sponsors and supporters from their communities. It provides a rich and diverse empirical evidence and analysis of why and how local youths joined the CJTF, its modus operandi, and the nature of its relationship to the military and local populations. The participation of people from a variety of religious and ethno-linguistic groups in the CJTF’s counterinsurgent vigilantism point to a collective sense of duty that transcends popular narratives of ethnicity and religion as central to the politics of protection in contemporary Nigeria.