A federal lawmaker representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency in Zamfara State in the House of Representatives, Suleiman Abubakar Gumi, has said that a notorious bandits’ leader, Bello Turji, who controlled over 150 groups in the north, has fled to a forest in Kwara State.
Gumi added that though Turji’s relocation was still unconfirmed, it was a sign that the military had dislodged him from his stronghold in the Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara.
In an interview with journalists, he stated this in Abuja, noting that when the bandits attacked any community, they would invade houses and spare them whenever they saw a girl. Still, they killed every male child in the communities.
The lawmaker said, “One life lost is like killing the whole of humanity. So, having tens of people killed in cold blood is a cause for concern for every human being. So, it’s a worrisome development, especially after the long silence regarding the killings and sudden escalation, which calls for respect.
“You know we lost about 56 souls in one attack, and a lot of properties and people are living from hand to mouth, and still the little they have is being destroyed, their animals killed or carted away, children, especially male child killed, is a worrisome development.
“There’s a town in Anka Local Government, to and one in my own Constituency – Bukkuyum and Kuffa, Kuffa are in the central city where people are, so they went for a meeting, and the town was left open and informants in their usual manner, informed the bandits, and they came, and by the time the vigilantes returned they were ambushed, and most of the casualties are those vigilantes in Anka, but in Bukkuyum, once the opportunity is there, there’s nobody even the village in uffa is also a notorious place where they cannot infiltrate typically. So, they got the opener, they entered, and they were looking for every male child to kill, no matter how small; they would open and see if it was a girl, they would leave, but if it was a boy, they would bring him out and kill him.
“And they were looking for men mostly, and then the women fled. So, that can tactics change tells that something has changed too. I’m not sure if it has to do with the declaration of them as terrorists, but it might be because if you declare someone a terrorist, your own rule of engagement changes, which means they have to change their own s of engagement.
“I’ve seen what happened in the Shinkafi area; I believe it’s a stronghold, a stronghold with about 150 groups and most of them under the command of Turuji. And now we heard he’s on the run; some say he’s even in Kwara State. He’s now in the Kwara forest; that’s what we hear. It’s unconfirmed, but definitely, he’s on the run.
“That means it’s a good thing. If they can dislodge Turuji and other bandits that were killed through an air raid, and if that is sustained, you put them in disarray and they would all disperse. Then the next thing is security agents especially the non-uniform security outfits should infiltrate all these places and apprehend them one by one. So before you know it, this whole thing will come to an end.”