A team of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, on Saturday came under attack by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants, killing at least 23 of them.
The Islamists ambushed the task force with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) set as mines along the route.
The incident happened as the team were on their way to Maiduguri, the state capital, according to one Tijjanima Umar, the CJTF chairman for the Gamboru Ngala area.
Nine persons died on the spot, and others much later.
Borno state has been the ground-zero of Islamist insurgency in Nigeria since 2010.
The CJTF – made up of local vigilantes trained and under the command of the military, was commissioned in 2013 at the heat of the war. The initial mission was to protect communities in the northeast against Boko Haram and its later splinter faction, ISWAP.
Although the army claims the terror groups have been degraded, they still manage to launch lethal attacks on civilians and military targets in the region.
No statement yet from the Nigerian military regarding this incident.
Terror Spreads To Northwest
The task force’s concept was adopted in some other northern states to confront the expanding terrorism and armed banditry in the region.
In Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria, gunmen on Saturday also ambushed CJTF members there, killing 14, several more are still unaccounted for, according to Ismail Haruna, the task force sector commandant.
The incident occurred in Isa local government area of Sokoto. It is reported that the CJTF were similarly ambushed on their way back to the state capital after a successful operation clearing out an infamous kidnap kingpin and his gang at Isa.
The gang quickly regrouped and launched the counterattack.
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