By Adam Nossiter, New York Times, October 20/21, 2013

BENISHEIK, Nigeria —[....] Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown Islamist insurgent movement, remains a deadly threat in the countryside [....] But about 40 miles away in Maiduguri, the sprawling state capital from where the militant group emerged, Boko Haram has been largely defeated for now, according to officials, activists and residents — a remarkable turnaround that has brought thousands of people back to the streets [....]

Boko Haram has been pushed out of Maiduguri largely because of the efforts of a network of youthful informer-vigilantes fed up with the routine violence and ideology of the insurgents they grew up with.

“I’m looking at these people: they collect your money, they kill you — Muslims, Christians,” said the network’s founder, Baba Lawal Ja’faar, a car and sheep salesman by trade. “The Boko Haram are saying, ‘Don’t go to the school; don’t go to the hospital.’ It’s all rubbish.”

Governor Shettima has recruited the vigilantes for “training” and is paying them $100 a month. [....]

Also see:

Life With Boko Haram
By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Guest Op-Ed, International New York Times, Oct. 23/24, 2013

[....] Just a few years ago, we thought terrorism was something that happened in faraway countries, like Israel. Now we know differently; the threat hangs over us all the time [....]