Bello Turji, leader of a group of outlaws operating in northern Nigeria, has blamed Minister of Defence (State), Bello Matawalle, of not handling banditry effectively when he was governor of Zamfara State.

During his time as governor, Matawalle had rolled out an amnesty programme to bandits, describing dialogue as best option to tackle banditry.

He, however, later withdrew the amnesty, saying the bandits failed to embrace the peace initiative his government offered them.

In a video released on social media, Turji linked the escalation of banditry in Zamfara and other Northwestern states to the policies mapped out by Matawalle when he was governor.

“Any person living in Shinkafi, Zurmi, and Isa (Sokoto State) cannot deny this claim. There is a particular group of bandits whom the former governor pampered. I chased the group from Shinkafi, I killed their leader, Dudu, for peace to reign in Shinkafi. The group had 200 arms, but the governor later hosted them (Dudu’s boys) at the Government House.

“But the government failed to ask the group to surrender their weapons. Another group led by Bashari Maniya has over 300 guns,” he said.

Turji claimed that he had seized 30 guns from a bandits group led by one Bashari Maniya, adding that the group never surrendered their weapons to the government.

In the video, Turji also alleged that some leaders of the bandits’ groups who were part of the peace deal initiated by the Matawalle administration had relocated to Sokoto after arming their boys to continue kidnapping people for ransom.

“Ali is a boy to Kabiru Maniya, and he is responsible for attacks in Tangaza axis. Both Bashiri and Kabiru are residing in the Sokoto metropolis, enjoying their lives. One other person, Buhari, is also in Sokoto town enjoying himself.

“Three weeks ago, a younger brother of Buhari was apprehended with guns in the Sokoto metropolis. Let anyone come out and deny this. I can come forward with video evidence where Kabiru was seen firing machine guns.

“The question now is, where are the machine guns after they claimed that they have embraced peace and settled in Sokoto town? Who did he give the machine guns? Let the government explain this to Nigerians, who are killing the people. Let them stop blaming Bello Turji for the killings and kidnapping.

“People being kidnapped in Sokoto metropolis and taken to the back of Achida and Goronyo, who is responsible for the kidnapping? Is that also Bello Turji? Who is living in peace in Shinkafi?”

Efforts to reach Matawalle for reaction failed as of the time of filing this report.

Multiple calls made to Henshaw Ogubike, a spokesperson of the Defence Ministry, rang out.

Ogbuike, however, sent a text message, asking our reporter to reach him via text. He had not responded to the message sent as of the time of filing this report.

Previously, Matawalle denied any link to the bandits and maintained that his government did its best to address the security challenges in Zamfara when he was in power. (Daily Trust)

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