CJTF operatives ‘kill head teacher’ who sacked them over ‘theft of school property’

Babagana Ahmed Gaidam, the head teacher of Asheikh Jarma Mega School in Maiduguri, Borno state, has been allegedly killed by operatives of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).

CJTF, a vigilante group, was established to help in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east.

Since students had become targets of attacks by the insurgents, some of the CJTF operatives were deployed to guard schools.

Gaidam was said to have accused the three operatives attached to his school of stealing fans, air conditioners and learning materials.

The operatives were accused of selling off the items, and Gaidam sacked them when he found out.

After disengaging them, the operatives reportedly visited Gaidam’s house to threaten him. They were said to have met his wife who relayed the message to her husband.

Gaidam’s house was subsequenty attacked at midnight on Monday. The attackers were said to have scaled the fence of the house and broke into his room.

According to Gaidam’s wife, he was attacked with a knife, and as he tried to fight back, they overpowered and killed him.

Gaidam’s wife said her husband recognised the assailants and screamed their names as they stabbed him to death.

The police command in the state said the suspects have been arrested, following a directive by Abdu Umar, the police commissioner.

“The name given by the wife of the deceased, which the victim was mentioning before his death, made it very easy to identify the suspected culprits,” an officer at the command said.

“The three suspects would be transferred to the state’s criminal investigation and intelligence department of the command for investigation.“

The suspects, according to the police, will be charged for culpable homicide.