FACT-CHECK: Did notorious bandit Bello Turji announce plans to attack Enugu, Port Harcourt?
Since May 2025, there have been speculations that the notorious bandit, Bello Turji, “recently” announced plans to begin terror attacks in Enugu State and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Many have been circulating a video clip in which Mr Turji allegedly made the announcement.
The bandit leader, in the clip obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, spoke in the Hausa language.
In the clip, Mr Turji, flaunting a rifle, was flanked by his armed foot soldiers – many of them dressed in military camouflage.
The clip trended in many Facebook and WhatsApp groups in Nigeria’s South-east.
A commissioner of information in a South-eastern state forwarded the clip to a PREMIUM TIMES reporter in late May, advising him against embarking on night journeys to avoid running into the terrorists.
The commissioner also uploaded the clip on his WhatsApp status, warning Enugu and Port Harcourt residents to be cautious.
The claim was posted here on Facebook and in another location on Facebook. It was also posted here and here, still on Facebook. It was also posted on other social media platforms.
The clip was uploaded on those Facebook pages between 24 and 25 May 2025.
Like several others, a Facebook user, Daniel Ogbonna Eze, uploaded the video clip on his Facebook page on 24 May 2025.
“They said they are coming to Enugu and Port Harcourt.
“Security agents, you’re by this information called into action,” Mr Eze wrote about the clip.
Those circulating the clip suggested that the bandits had recently released the video.
The claim caused tension in the South-east, especially in Enugu State.
PREMIUM TIMES can confirm that the claim is entirely false.
A Google reverse image search showed that the clip appeared on 11 September 2024 and was not recently released.
Again, this newspaper found that Mr Turji’s statements were misinterpreted.
We translated parts of Mr Turji’s speech into English, where the bandit leader mentioned Enugu and Port Harcourt to uncover the misinterpretation.
Below is the English translation of his statements, which were rendered in the Hausa language:
“Listen to me, you Moriki people. I was born here, and so were you. There was never a time when a soldier from Enugu or Port Harcourt would be posted here and kill your brothers, and you would be happy and jubilant, and we would allow you to go free, and the West dogs would continue ranting about it.
“Then westerners and homosexuals printing (publishing) things for you. You said they went and spoiled things (referring to cattle encroaching on farmlands). Tell us what they ate. The cattle were killed in the months of May, June, (and) July (of harmattan). And not anyone’s house…..”
Earlier in September 2024, a human rights lawyer, Bulama Bukarti, posted on his X handle that Mr Turji imposed a N50 million tax on Moriki, a village in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, the North-west region of Nigeria.
“The people of Moriki town of Zamfara State have managed to convince Bello Turji to reduce the ransom he imposed on them from N50 million to N30 million,” Mr Bukarti posted on X, adding that the terror kingpin gave the villagers till 11 September 2024 to make the payment.
“This sum is supposedly compensation for the killing of Turji’s cows by the new commandant of the army base stationed inside Moriki,” Mr Bukarti added.
In response, Mr Turji, in the now misinterpreted clip, confirmed that he imposed the levy on Moriki.
“I heard someone with a bald head… has released some documents saying Bello Turji has imposed a levy on Moriki people,” the terror kingpin said, noting it was true he did impose the levy.
However, he disputed the reason the lawyer gave for his (Mr Turji) action, explaining that some military operatives in Moriki killed his kinsmen and 11 cows.
Mr Turji, in the clip, further claimed that some of his people were shot dead “in front of Birnin Yero’s Juma’at Mosque.”
The claim that Mr Turji announced plans to begin attacks in Enugu State and Port Harcourt is entirely false.
