The military high command announced on Thursday that troops engaged in separate operations have successfully arrested three suspected gunrunners believed to be supplying weapons to the notorious bandit kingpin, Bello Turji. The suspects were apprehended in Kaduna between November 14 and 17, 2023.
Bello Turji, who is among the list of 19 wanted individuals declared by the Defence Headquarters on November 14, 2022, has a bounty of N95 million placed on him. Turji is recognized as one of the most dangerous bandit leaders and is allegedly involved in heinous crimes, including the reported killing of about 200 people, including women and children, in January 2022. He was also implicated in the attack on Garki village in Sokoto, where over 80 people were reportedly murdered in a single night in 2021.
Despite multiple attempts to apprehend Turji through military air strikes, he had managed to evade capture.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, disclosed the recent arrests, stating that the suspects were en route to delivering arms and ammunition to Bello Turji in Zamfara when they were intercepted by troops. The seized items included 504 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammo, 100 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammo, three RPG chargers, three mobile phones, one ATM card, and one vehicle.
In addition to the apprehensions, Maj. Gen. Buba reported the discovery of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) with a handwritten letter in the Biu area of Borno on November 20, 2023. The analysis of the IED is currently underway.
Providing an overview of recent operations, Maj. Gen. Buba stated that a total of 99 terrorists were killed, 198 were arrested, and 139 kidnapped hostages were rescued across various theatres of operations. Troops also arrested 49 perpetrators of oil theft and successfully prevented oil theft valued at N1,018,483,900.00 in the South-South region. Additionally, troops destroyed several illegal refining sites, dugout pits, boats, storage tanks, vehicles, and recovered stolen crude oil and other illegal materials in the Niger Delta area.