Boko Haram hunters burn
another sect member in
Maiduguri
Volunteer Vigilance Youths Group (VVYG)
otherwise known as ‘Civilian JTF’ on Thursday
arrested and set ablaze an alleged notorious Boko
Haram sect member at Gwange ward in
Maiduguri, Borno State capital, residents and
witnesses said.
This is the second time the youths would burn a
suspected member of the Boko Haram in less
than a week.
Some of the vigilante members who took part in
the burning said the suspect had once killed and
burned a soldier in the area sometime last year.
The claim could not be verified from the
spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Lt Col
Sagir Musa but a security source confirmed that
the youths had burnt the suspect.
“This (the action of the vigilantes) is a serious
source of concern to us…jungle justice is a crime
in itself and we want parents to caution their
wards against it,” the source said.
Weekly Trust gathered that the suspected Boko
Haram member had led insurgents in the killing
of many people and perpetrated “many
atrocities” at Gwange Sabon Layi.
“The actions of the suspect who fled to the forest
last December prompted soldiers to sack
residents from the area,” a resident of Gwange
said.
One of the vigilantes also corroborated. “Only
Allah knows how eager we were to catch that guy
(burnt suspect) alive. As a result of his bad deeds,
soldiers sacked and closed our area completely.
But we were then told that the guy had escaped
into the forest. Some even believed that he has
been killed since. We were on operations when we
saw him.
“On seeing him, all the youths shouted ‘here he
is’. Then everyone of us was jubilating, seeing our
‘wanted guy’.
“So, we instantly reminded him of what he did
last year, but to our surprise, he started begging
us to pardon him. As he was crying, we tied him
up, poured fuel on his body and set him on fire.
No pity for Boko Haram sect members at all now.
Thousands have been displaced and hundreds
were killed because of his bad deeds,” the
vigilante said.