IRIN Africa | Nigeria school attacks spur vigilante groups | Nigeria | Children | Conflict | Education | Governance | Human Rights | Security
KANO, 27 June 2013 (IRIN) - Youths in northern Nigeria’s Borno State, where many members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram (BH) have been arrested in recent weeks, are increasingly joining vigilante gangs to pass on the identity of BH members to the military-police Joint Task Force (JTF) following a string of deadly attacks on schools, according to vigilante groups and residents of Borno State capital, Maiduguri.
"Vigilante groups are springing up in neighbourhoods to counter BH and many young men are joining them,” Abubakar Mallum, the leader of a vigilante group in Maiduguri, told IRIN. “BH has declared war on youths in Maiduguri and Damaturu, which has motivated many young men to join. The battle line has been drawn. Youths have realized they either fight by exposing BH or they risk being killed by BH,” he said.
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