A security expert and former chairperson of Committee on Security and Prosecution of Armed Bandits in Zamfara, Sani Shinkafi, has accused the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government of thwarting the capture of a notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, by the Civilian Joint Security Task Force (CJTF) in Zamfara State, Nigeria’s north-west.
Naijaonpoint reports that Nigeria’s North-west has been plagued by a series of terrorist attacks by hoodlums locally referred to as bandits.
The bandits are often led by Bello Turji who has been terrorising the North-western states of Zamfara and Sokoto, imposing levies on helpless residents and killing many of them.
In response, the Zamfara State Government recruited hundreds of persons into the CJTF to complement efforts of conventional security operatives to fight banditry in the state.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, Shinkafi said the federal government halted an attack which would have resulted in the capture of the bandit leader and killing of his foot soldiers.
According to him, some village chiefs, during an operation, had deployed both CJTF and CPG operatives to a forest in Shinkafi Local Government Area of the state to battle Turji and his men.
He said: “As the fight continued, they were about to capture (Bello) Turji. Many of his foot soldiers were killed in hundreds.
“But the federal government (of Nigeria) halted the fight (against Turji). And told them (CJTF and CPG) to go back and settle at the Shinkafi (LGA) and that they (federal government) were going to use dialogue to settle with Bello Turji.
“So if the government had allowed this civilian JTF to continue advancing to the bandits camp, I assure you Bello Turji could have been a history by now.”
Recalling that Turji later rejected the dialogue spearheaded by some community and religious leaders, he said the bandit leader insisted that he would not be part of the dialogue since Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara was not involved.
However, the security expert did not mention when the incident happened. But, Premium Times reports that there are indications it happened between late 2024 and early 2025.
Continuing, Shinkafi said the CJTF operatives have been struggling to defeat bandits in Zamfara because there was no operational support from conventional security operatives.
“A lot of victories had been made because some of these (Turji’s) lieutenants were killed by these civilian JTF. And when these civilian JTF went to fight with Bello Turji, the military and other security agencies backed out (from the operation),” he said.
“And there was no operational support.”
“The terrain (to the bandits hideout) is not motorable. It’s very deplorable. And these bandits know this terrain more than the civilian JTF because the civilian JTF (operatives) are not indigenes of the state,” he added.
When Premium Times contacted on the spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, he referred the platform to Usman Zakari, a media aide to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
However, Zakari did not respond to several calls and a text message seeking his comments.
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]