Notorious bandit leader Bello Turji frees 32 kidnap victims, agrees to peace deal

In a surprising turn of events, notorious bandit leader Bello Turji has reportedly released 32 kidnapped victims and vowed to halt attacks on farmers, following a series of peace meetings with Islamic clerics at his camp.

The development was made public by renowned Islamic scholar, Musa Yusuf, popularly known as Asadus-Sunnah, during a religious event held on Monday in Kaduna.

According to Yusuf, the peace talks were held in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, where Turji also surrendered some of his weapons as a gesture of goodwill.

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He explained that residents of Shinkafi reached out to his team of clerics, asking them to speak with Turji so they could return to their farms located in the forests. The meetings, he said, were held three times in July inside the Fakai forest.

“We met Mr Turji, Dan Bakkolo, Black, Kanawa and Malam Ila. The speculation that Dan Bakkolo was killed is not true. These people are the ones terrorising the axis, and they all agreed to the peace proposals, one of which is for them to surrender some of their arms to show commitment to the peace process.

“They surrendered the arms in three phases at different times, and allowed the residents of Shinkafi to access their farms in the forest across the river heading to Mr Turji enclaves. We agreed that the Fulanis must be allowed to go to town without being stereotyped or killed by the vigilante.

“He (Turji) also released 32 kidnapped captives as part of the peace agreement,” Mr Yusuf said.

He also showed a video of some of the freed victims and the rough paths they took to get to Turji’s camp.

He said the released hostages, including women and children, had been in captivity for nearly four months. Some of the women reportedly gave birth while in the camp, and one victim was bitten by a snake.

Since the agreement, Mr Yusuf said, the Shinkafi area has witnessed calm, and locals are now farming without the usual fear of abduction.

However, he clarified that while they urged Turji to support peace, they didn’t ask him to surrender all his weapons. This, he explained, was to protect him from rival gangs that might not be part of the peace process.

He also cautioned other clerics who have been attacking Turji online, saying:

“Their utterances would only exacerbate the situation.”

Mr Yusuf added that the peace pact may not end all terrorism in Zamfara but noted that communities under Turji’s control are now enjoying some level of stability.

He praised President Bola Tinubu, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, and Senator Shehu Buba for supporting a peaceful approach to resolving the state’s security crisis.