Military goes after Turji, ‘kills his son’, sets hideout on fire

Troops of the Nigerian Army (NA) have reportedly stormed the location of notorious terrorist kingpin, Bello Turji, destroying his food storage facility and killing one of his sons.

Counter-insurgency and security expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, confirmed the development in a post via X on Saturday.

Makama said the attack on Turji’s hitherto unknown location, was carried out by a combined ground and air troops under the Operation Fansan Yanma which dismantled the bandit’s key hideouts in Fakai, Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, where Turji and his associates have long operated from.

“Among the camps targeted were Zangon Dan Gwandi, Zangon Tsaika, Zangon Kagara, and a school reportedly used by Turji to store foodstuffs and weapons. The military burned the school to prevent it from serving as a supply base for Turji’s network,” the report said.

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Intelligence sources told the counter-insurgency expert that Turji’s group suffered significant losses.

“We killed his son and many of his fighters during the operation. I also listened to Turji’s panicked voice calling for reinforcements from seven other bandit leaders. None of them showed up, and one of his spies narrowly escaped from us today,” one of the sources said.

A considerable number of Turji’s associates, including “high profile lieutenants and possibly family members”, were said to have been neutralized during the targeted strikes.

DailyTrust had reported how the Military High Command described Turji, as a “dead man walking”.

Turji is a notorious terrorist and bandit leader operating in the North-West, particularly Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger states.

Briefing newsmen on the operations of the military in 2024, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj Gen. Buba, said it was important to realise that the terrorists exist for the sake of war and must be destroyed for the sake of peace.

He said the troops had sustained pressure on the terrorist enclaves, hideouts, and strongholds as an incentive to speedily defeat the terrorists and hastily end the war.