This archive report was first published on 1 July 2019.
More than 2,000 people took to the streets in Maiduguri, northern Nigeria, on Sunday to protest against the anti-Boko Haram CJTF militia, accusing them of abuses after the killing of a rickshaw driver.
According to eyewitnesses, the protesters blocked major roads in the Suleimanti area of the city and set fires, causing chaos despite pleas from police and military officers.
"We want the CJTF to be banned from the city because of the abuses we suffer in their hands," said Suleimanti resident Bukar Saleh.
The CJTF militia tried to stop the demonstration, attacking protesters with batons and arresting scores of them.
The protest erupted hours after a rickshaw driver was shot dead near a militia checkpoint, with the CJTF claiming the victim was shot for failing to stop at a checkpoint during night-time curfew hours.
However, the protesters disputed this claim, saying the victim was a known resident who was shot for no reason.
The CJTF emerged in 2013 as a vigilante group in response to Boko Haram's deadly attacks in Maiduguri, and has since been embedded with the military to fight the jihadist group.
