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00:00It looks like a military training. This group of men and women are getting ready for a night
00:05patrol.
00:06They're in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna, just 100 kilometres from where 300 school
00:12children were recently kidnapped.
00:16This local vigilante group, called Civilian Joint Task Force, was formed to protect local
00:21communities from armed terrorist groups.
00:26I was also kidnapped and as a victim, you know, I was taken to their camp and I spent
00:32a week in the camp. It was not a funny experience. I was really beaten, you know, threatened
00:39to be killed.
00:40These vigilante groups believe they have an advantage over state security forces. They're
00:45often more familiar with the territories and forests where armed gangs operate. But for
00:50this terrorism expert, most of them are inadequately equipped.
00:54If you don't control these guys that are carrying arms to protect their community,
00:58I think criminal elements will capitalise on that opportunity and explore that opportunity
01:04in their criminal enterprise. So I think the government should, you know, give these guys
01:11effective training, if need be, they want to permit them to carry out arms.
01:16But as these groups are about to step into the night, despite their lack of resources,
01:22they remain committed to protecting their communities in these difficult circumstances.