100 days gone: When will CDS Musa fulfill his vow to capture notorious bandit, Bello Turji?

Friday, December 20, 2024 made it exactly 100 days since Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Chris Musa vowed to eliminate notorious bandit leader Bello Turji who has been terrorizing residents of Zamfara and Sokoto states.

Musa had, on September 10, during a press briefing in Abuja, gave the assurance that it was just a matter of time before Turji was either arrested or eliminated.

The CDS who described the bandit leader as a deranged fellow who would soon meet his waterloo, had vowed that he would soon be apprehended and his reign of terror brought to an end.

“On the issue of Turji, like I said, he is just a deranged individual who feels power, but I can bet you that it is just a matter of time,” Musa had said.

“We are going to get him and I can assure you within the shortest possible time, we are going to address that issue”.

However, despite the vow made over three months ago, the terrorist has remained invincible, defying the security apparatus put in place to capture him.

Instead, he has become even bolder, carrying out deadly attacks on communities under his control, kidnapping and collecting ransom at will and killing his victims without any iota of remorse.

Turji has even added another dimension to his reign of terror as he had the temerity to record his acts on video and uploading them to taunt the security agencies.

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In one of such videos released two days after Gen. Musa’s press conference, Turji, dressed in full military fatigue and brandishing sophisticated weapons had boldly called out the Army Chief by name and charged him to get all the weapons in the military arsenal and come after him.

In another video, Turji showed some of his kidnapped victims and insisted that a N50 million ransom he placed for their release must be paid before he would release them.

In yet another video, the bandit kingpin taunted the Nigerian government and security operatives, asking them when the chase for him would commence. He then asked rhetorically whether they are scared of him.

On Wednesday December 18, Turji reportedly threatened to unleash violence on communities in Zamfara and Sokoto states following the arrest of his close ally and mentor, Bako Wurgi, who was arrested by Nigerian troops.

Wurgi who was a wanted bandit leader linked to the abduction and murder of the Emir of Gobir in Sokoto State, Alhaji Isa Mohammad in August, was nabbed by troops of the 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army and according to counter-insurgency and security expert, Zagazola Makama, Wurgi’s arrest made Turji very uncomfortable and he issued threats of violence including killing of hostages if Wurgi is not released immediately.

“The notorious bandit leader Bello Turji has reportedly issued a series of threats following the arrest of his close associate, Wurgi, a key lieutenant in Turji’s camp who is said to be instrumental in ransom negotiations/collections of hostages captured and held by bandits in their enclaves to the eastern areas of Sokoto and Zamfara states particularly from communities in areas such as Isa, Sabon Birni (in Sokoto State), and Shinkafi (in Zamfara State),” Makama had posted on his X handle.

Reports on Friday however, revealed that Wurgi had died from injuries he sustained in a shootout with soldiers before he was arrested and it is now left to be seen if Turji will make good his vow to unleash terror on innocent people if anything happened to his ally.

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