DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2016.v04i05.003

Pages: 473-481

It is an indubitable reality that the primacy of government is the protection of the lives and properties of the citizenry. In carrying out this fundamental responsibility, governments the world over rely solely on the conventional or regular security agencies such as the police and the military. However, contemporary security challenges especially as it concerns Nigeria have seen the government engage the services of non-regular security outfit in the war against insurgency. This paper therefore interrogates on the desirability or otherwise of the engagement of the non-conventional security outfit in the war on terrorism. The paper attempted to x-ray the prominent role of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) side by side the Nigerian military and their pre-eminent impact on the war on Boko Haram terrorism. The paper exposed the limited but complimentary role of the Civilian JTF to the military due largely to limited knowledge on warfare. Utilizing the theory of State Failure as a framework, the paper opined that he Civilian JTF should either be enlisted into the military or given a special training and its activities brought under the jurisdiction of the military. Equally the need for better welfare and military hardware to aid her activities should not be compromised.