Civilians, sometimes bearing crude weapons, have guided security patrols. In the early 2000s, Islamist preachers from Borno, accompanied by an Italian imam, had already aroused Chadian authorities’ mistrust; eventually they were arrested in Chad and extradited. This report describes how the vigilante groups were born, their connection with state agencies and institutions, how they function and their role in the conflict’s evolution. But the security risk hasn’t disappeared. There is also increasing use of women, who are better able to check and search women without creating too much tension in a context where women are playing a greater role in the insurgency. Historically, the Lake Chad basin, in its broad multi-country sense, has endured numerous invasions, motivated by a mix of religious ambitions, desire to impose political authority and to forcibly take control of the local economy. While networks of support within communities – or between them – softened the impact of these shocks, these stabilisers are fragile; host communities have only a limited capacity to absorb arrivals. The army has asked them to join in long-distance operations, usually mixing CJTF familiar with the targeted terrain with groups from other areas. Such programs are never fully successful, but they help motivate returns to normal lives. Security document consulted by Crisis Group, February 2016.Crisis Group interview, researcher, N’Djamena, September 2016.Crisis Group interviews, researchers, security expert, N’Djamena, September 2016.Crisis Group telephone interview, humanitarian actor, February 2017.“Nigeria exports many members of the Boko Haram sect to Chad, fleeing army repression”. The insurgency launched in 2009 by Boko Haram, a radical revivalist Islamist movement established earlier in Borno state, in Nigeria’s north east and adjacent to Lake Chad, is now regional, affecting the border areas of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Climatic and economic migration reached peak levels during the great droughts of the 1970s. National authorities should put forward clear options for the future evolution of the lake area and multiply the number of field visits. The area combines rich agriculture, pastoralism and fishing and is a magnet for migrants from all over the Sahel, leading to tensions over control of resources. Such strains are not new in this area and they have various causes. In Borno state, the few CJTF selected for BOYES training went through a vetting process, with the support of state authorities and security forces, including background checks and medical screening. Il a fait savoir que les incursions de Boko Haram vont continuer dans le bassin conventionnel du Lac Tchad. Extension ou sanctuarisation ?”, op. cit.Crisis Group interview, humanitarian actor, N’Djamena, September 2016.“Etude sur le contexte social, économique, historique de la région du Lac au Tchad”, op. Insecurity ranged from banditry (the As Boko Haram splinters and morphs into more discrete guerrilla forces, with renewed emphasis on terrorist attacks, it is timely to rethink the role of vigilantes and their governance and prepare for their transformation. Moreover, the past 30 years have seen a intense growth in the activity of highway robbers ( Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), 2016; “Global Terrorism Index 2015. CJTF leaders assert that an organisation was needed precisely to curb abuses and insist they put in place a structure to monitor behaviour, with provosts and a disciplinary committee chaired by a member who is a lawyer.

Operating under the unofficial but revealing name of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), vigilantes were essential in flushing Boko Haram out of the city, then began replicating throughout the state. In Nigeria in particular, vigilantism did much to turn an anti-state insurgency into a bloodier civil war, pitting Boko Haram against communities and leading to drastic increases in violence. Having witnessed the growth of Boko Haram groups in their communities, vigilantes often know some of the militants and their business partners, as well as who from their immediate environment is unexplainably absent. This video allegedly shows members of the Nigerian military executing members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram. Indeed, the groups grew when it became clear they had official support. Abdouraman Halirou, “Le conflit frontalier Cameroun-Nigeria dans le lac Tchad: les enjeux de l’île de Darak, disputée et partagée”, Anne-Charlotte Goupil, “Etude sur le contexte social, économique, historique de la région du Lac au Tchad”, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, February 2016.