A former Central Bank Governor and present Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi  has thrown his weight behind.

The traditional ruler urged other forms of civilian militias and questioned the competence of the military in the fight against the dreaded Islamic sect.

 The emir said that “The People should be sensitised on the importance of being on the alert. And they should prepare, they should acquire what they will defend themselves with,” Sanusi said during Friday prayers at the central mosque in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north.

 “Those that are endowed as hunters and vigilantes should apply this endowment given to them by Allah as an avenue of earning divine reward in defending their nation,”

he said Nigeria’s military has been cooperating with various vigilante forces in the northeast for more than a year, often relying on civilians to do the bulk of the fighting against the insurgents.

Witnesses said it was vigilantes who recaptured the symbolically important northeast town of Chibok from Boko Haram at the weekend, with troops staying clear of the heavy fighting.

Chibok was where the Islamists kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in April. Fifty-seven have escaped.

“We should not wait for soldiers to come, before  the carnage will have been done,” Sanusi told the congregation. “Some of them drop their guns and flee.”

The military has repeatedly been accused of leaving civilians defenceless against Boko Haram attacks and failing to respond to distress calls made in advance of raids