The Notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, is ‘incapacitated’ after sustaining severe injuries when Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets raided his hideouts and bandits’ camps in the North West, Nigeria.
The attack jets of the Air Task Force (ATF), Operation Hadin Kai, also killed several bandits in the raid carried out at some forests in Zamfara and Sokoto States, early Saturday.
Bello Turji seem to have had a premonition of the raid on his hideout as he in a letter dated December 14, 2021, offered to lay down his arms on condition of cessation of hostilities.
The federal government had last month vowed to ‘ruthlessly’ deal with bandits after a Federal High Court in Abuja consented to the government’s application to designate the gunmen as terrorists. This is just as military aerial and ground operations are unrelenting in their attacks in the region especially Zamfara State, the main base of the notorious bandit leader.
Bello Turji offer of olive branch was conveyed in a letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State and the Emir of Shinkafi and dispatched to Emir Shinkafi by Turji’s emissary.
But on Sunday, sources said that the Air Task Force aggressive operation, in conjunction with ground troops of the Nigerian Army, took place at Shinkafi town in Zamfara, and Bafarawa, Isa, Sabon Birni axis in Sokoto State.
According to the intelligence source, the actual number of bandits who were eliminated by the airstrikes could not be ascertained, in the dawn operations.
A source told PRNigeria that some bandits who sustained serious injuries attempted to flee, but were ambushed by ground troops.
“Apart from spontaneous operations in Katsina and Zamfara, from 16-17 December 2021, strikes were conducted by NAF aircraft at bandits camps in Isa, Sabon Birni axis and East Tozei where several bandits were eliminated while others escaped in disarray.
“Furthermore on the morning of 18 Dec 21, airstrikes were carried out in Gebe Village, Sokoto State where bandits were hitherto harassing innocent citizens were also mercilessly dealt with. Yet, few of the bandits still escaped, abandoning their weapons, in the process,” the source added.
Revealing how their military operation was conducted in the two North West States, another intelligence operative of the Nigerian Army, said recent joint operations by air and ground troops are yielding positive results.
He said a General Officer Commanding, GOC, led troops to strongholds of the bandits in Sokoto and Zamfara States, while at the same time multiple airstrikes of the military attack jets pounded the criminal bandits.
“Many of them were neutralized. Credible reports indicate that Turji was badly wounded by today’s strike and if not dead. There were civilians that were also set free, after our military raids at the bandits’ forest camps,
“There may likely be collateral damages in communities where bandits are harboured and protected because some community leaders are reluctant to provide useful information on the bandits in their areas,” he said.
First reported by PRNigeria