After different vows and promises by the military high command to bring the notorious bandits’ leader, Bello Turji to justice for terrorising innocent citizens, troops are yet to capture or kill him and other notorious kingpins wreaking havoc in the country, Weekend Trust reports.

However, troops of the Nigerian military, drawn from both the Army and Air Force, attached with Operation Fansan Yamma and other operations in the North-West and the North-Central respectively, have neutralised many terrorists’ commanders.

The commanders neutralised include Turji’s allies across Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna, but the notorious kingpin still remains in hiding after many months of his trail by the security forces.

Specifically in the last two years after President Tinubu appointed new service chiefs, the military, being led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, a four-star general, has issued threats 8 times that Turji would be brought to justice for committing “heinous crimes” against humanity.

However, security analysts and stakeholders spoken to defended the military, saying the troops deployed to different theatres of operation have the wherewithal to neutralise any criminal, including Turji if “there is a political will in their support.”

Findings by our correspondent revealed that Turji, his foot soldiers and other terrorists’ groups have continued to wreak havoc in different remote villages, particularly in three local government areas in Zamfara – Zurmi, Shinkafi and Gummi – where they have held sway.

Further findings by Weekend Trust showed that the military forces are currently combing four local government areas in Zamfara State, including Anka, where both ground and air troops attached with Operation Fansan Yamma are conducting special operations.

A recent visit to Katsina by our defence correspondent showed that security forces comprising troops of the Nigerian Army and Air Force, Department of State Service, local vigilantes, among others, were leaving no stone unturned in liberating some local government areas. Batsari is already liberated.

Who is Bello Kachalla Turji?

Bello Kachalla Turji, popularly known as Turji, is a notorious Nigerian terrorist and bandit leader operating in the North-West region of the country, particularly Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger states.

Turji was born in 1994 in Shinkafi Local Government of Zamfara State. He was raised as a Fulani cattle herder without education.

The terrorist kingpin claimed in the past that some of his family’s cattle were stolen by a pro-security forces vigilante group called the Ƴan Sakai, who also murdered six of his siblings.

He also claimed that his father tried to sue the Emir of Zurmi (to whom the stolen cattle were given) but his efforts failed, and that Yan Sakai killed his uncle.

The bandits’ leader had told Daily Trust in an interview that this had prompted him to take up arms – a claim some stakeholders faulted.

In 2022, a bandit gang led by Turji carried out a series of massacres in Zamfara, resulting in the deaths of nearly 200 innocent people, including women and children.

Bello Turji was known to have been responsible for numerous massacres and terrorist attacks against civilians and security forces in the North-West region of the country, especially Zamfara and Sokoto states.

In September 2021, Yan Sakai attacked a mosque in Gwadabawa, killing 11 people. Turji responded by leading his bandits towards a market in Goronyo, Sokoto State. The bandits entered the bazaar and opened fire, killing over 60 civilians.

In December 2021, Turji’s forces attacked a bus in Sabon Birni, setting it on fire and burning the passengers inside to death. Thirty people died in the ambush

Checks also showed that Turji was the mastermind behind the slaughter of over 200 people in Zamfara State in January 2022. He is a rival of another bandit leader named Dogo Gide.

Turji, others continue wreaking havoc, kill 66 in 6 months

Data compiled, processed and analysed by Weekend Trust showed that at least 66 lives, including those of some security operatives, were wasted within six months by the criminals led by Turji and other terrorists’ commanders, who are yet to be captured.

Specifically, on January 30, 2025, no fewer than three people were killed by bandits in Shinkafi town, Shinkafi Local Government Area. Malam Rilwanu Liman was killed by the same bandits in an ambush at the Kauran Namoda area of Kauran Namoda Local Government – both in Zamfara State.

On April 2, at least 11 farmers were murdered in cold blood in Lugu town, Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State when Bello Turji and his men attacked the community.

Two weeks after, April 15 precisely, one person was killed in Gabaken Mesa village, also in Kauran Namoda Local Government Area in Zamfara.

Similarly, at least three persons, including a member of the Zamfara Community Protection Guards and two others were killed along Anka-Gusau road on April 22 when the bandits laid siege and launched an attack on the road.

On May 29 this year, Turji’s foot soldiers were reported to have stormed Kungurki village, also in Kauran Namoda area of Zamfara State and murdered four people in an attack on the community.

Two days later, not less than three members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) were killed in the same Kauran Namoda in an ambush by bandits when the terrorists laid siege on Gusau-Kaura-Namoda road.

In the same vein, in June 22 alone, 40 operatives of the Civilian Joint Task Force, including four DSS operatives and a security informant, Bashar Maniya, were sent to their early graves by the same set of criminals at Ruggar Chida community in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

Unending vows by security forces

In September 2024, the military high command said it would soon bring Turji to book for his offences, saying the issues of levies being collected from farmers before harvest by bandits led by the notorious bandits’ leader and other terrorists would soon become a thing of the past.

Gen Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, who said this at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja during a press briefing, said that Turji’s days were numbered and it was a matter of time before he met his waterloo. He begged Nigerians to support the military to succeed in its mission.

“On the issue of Turji, like I said, he is just a deranged individual that feels power, but I can bet you that it is just a matter of time.

 “I can assure you that we are going to get him within the shortest possible time. We are going to address the issue of payment of levies from farmers. That is what they live on. It shows you the desperation they are in.

“Even when they get the money, they don’t have a way to use it. They know that the money they are getting is blood money. And that is why we all must come together to work with members of the armed forces and other security agencies to deny them the ability to move freely within our communities.

“Please do not give them any support. Do not give them information on the movement of troops because this is what is really happening. This thing is continuing in most of the affected areas because we have informants within the communities,” the top military officer had said.

Also, in December, 2024, the then Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, described the notorious bandit and terrorist leader as a “dead man walking.”

“During the course of the year, troops eliminated thousands of terrorists and their commanders and combatants, among others. We are also sure that similar fate awaits those parading themselves as terror leaders and commanders today.

“Take it from me, he (Turji) is merely a dead man walking as he will soon follow suit with many others that have been eliminated during the course of the year,” the senior military officer had also told journalists.

On January 19, 2025, troops of the Nigerian Army reportedly stormed the location of a notorious terror kingpin and destroyed his food storage facility while also killing one of his sons, but failed to arrest him.

Similarly, in January 26, 2025, the commander, 1 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Gusau, Zamfara State, Brigadier-General Opurum Timothy, described Turji, whom he said was on the run, as a “coward” for abandoning his foot soldiers.

“Turji is a coward and has abandoned his foot soldiers due to the pressure we have mounted on him. We have cleared many of them and will sustain the momentum by taking the fight directly to their strongholds,” Timothy said when he spoke shortly after the Nigerian Army’s Combined West African Social Activities (WASA) 2024 held at 1 Brigade Cantonment in Gusau, Zamfara State.

In April 2025, the military high command reiterated its position again – that the days of notorious bandit kingpin, Kachalla Bello Turji were numbered.

It specifically dismissed the claims that the military had downscaled operations against herdsmen, terrorists, cattle rustlers, among others, adding that it would remain focused in capturing Turji.

The military’s reaction came after Turji killed 11 farmers in Lugu town, Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The terrorist was said to be returning from a Sallah visit to a community in Isa when he carried out the attack.

The present Director, Defence Media Operations, Major-General Markus Kangye, said they would continue to neutralise high-profiled terrorists hibernating in forests.

“On whether the troops have downscaled their operations against cattle rustlers and some terrorists, as I read out, troops intercepted some trucks loaded with cows and recovered them. They are still on the hunt for high-value terrorists.

“I have also read out the report for the quarter – some high-value terrorists that were eliminated during the quarter. I mentioned their names. So, for Bello Truji, it is just a matter of time and an appointment will be fixed with him by his maker,” Kangye had said at a briefing.

On May, 2025, Turji still escaped a military airstrike in Sokoto State, where troops only killed one of his lieutenants identified as Shaudo Alku

According to the Nigerian Army, the air component of Operation Fasan Yamma targeted Alku, also known as Kallamu by locals, during the exercise on May 18. The deceased and other terrorists were hit near Tunfa Primary School in Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

Alku was said to have been invited from Niger Republic for a meeting with terrorists’ commanders before he met his waterloo.

Top commanders killed

Despite evasive scenarios that have chacterised the drama between the security forces and Turji, many top commanders of different terrorists’ groups have been neutralised.

Our correspondent reports that the criminals were mostly killed by troops’ airstrikes that rained on their enclaves. Apart from those killed, other top commanders are coming out from their hiding to surrender due to the intense and sustained pressure on them from military operations.

Among the high profile terrorists’ commanders who surrendered recently was the one identified as Ibn Ali. It was learnt that he surrendered to troops with his weapons and cache of ammunition in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

Weekend Trust reports that Kachalla Yello Danbokolo was killed in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State in June 2025 while Gwaska Dankarami from Shamushele village, Zurmi Local Government of the state was also killed in the same location by security forces in November 2022.

Further checks showed that other terror kingpins that have been neutralised by the military between 2024 and 2025 include Dogo Saleh, who was killed in Rijana, Kaduna State in March 2025, while Halilu Sububu from Sububu village, Maradu Local Government of Zamfara State was also killed in his village.

Both Gero (Alhaji) and Alhaji Riga were killed by security forces in Unguwar Goga hill-forest of Katsina State in March 2025 while Kachalla Harisu was killed in a forest bordering Safana and Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area, also in Katsina State in April 2025.

Other terrorists’ commanders identified as Tukur Sharme and Dogo Isa were neutralised in Kachia, Kaduna State in September 2024 and February 2025 respectively, while Dogo Maikasuwa, known as Dogo Millionaire, was sent to early grave in Chikun, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

In February 2025, Kamilu Chiroma (Buzaro) was neutralised at Dargaza hill, Maidabino B ward, Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina State in February 2025, while Dan Mudale, another high-profile terrorists’ commander was killed in Keta Town in Tsafe Local Government of Zamfara in March 2025.

Identities of terrorists’ commanders on the run

Apart from Turji, who hails from Fakai village of Zamfara, many other terrorists’ commanders that had wreaked havoc or are still wreaking havoc are on the run.

The military has since placed a N5 million bounty on each of the adversaries for those who might be instrumental to their arrest or killing.

Ali Kachalla, also known as Ali Kawaje from Kuyambara village, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State; Ado Aliero from Yankuzo village in Tsafe, Zamfara State; Sani Dangote from Dumbarum village, Zurmi Local Government; Leko, Mozoj village, Matazu Local Government of Katsina and Dogo Nahali from Yar Tsamiyar village, Kankara Local Government of Katsina, are all on the run.

Others are Nagona from Angwan Galadima in Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State; Monore from Yantumaki village, DanMusa Local Government of Katsina State; Baleri from Shinkafi Local Government of Zamfara; Mamudu Tainange from Varanda village in Batsari Local Government of Katsina State; Nasanda from Kwashabawa village in Zurmi Local Government of Zamfara; Isiya Garwa from Kamfanin Daudawa village, Faskari Local Government of Katsina; Abu Radde, Dan-Da and Sani Gurgu – the trio from Varanda village in Batsari Local Government of Katsina State, as well as Umaru Dan Nigeria and Nagala from Rafi village, Mada district of Gusau and Maru local government areas respectively.

Political will needed – Experts

Commenting on why the high-profile terrorists’ commanders are yet to be brought to book, an intelligence and counterterrorism expert, Abdullahi Garba, explained that without political will, the criminals would continue to wreak havoc in the country.

Garba also charged the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces to give his commanders a marching order to ward off the criminals from forests, saying they are capable of doing so within few months.

“See, our troops are the best in terms of training and everything you think of in fighting both conventional and asymmetric warfare, the only thing we lack is the political will to tame the criminals because there are some people feeding fat from its existence,” he alleged.

‘Preventing foot soldiers via non-kinetic approach will go a long way’

On his part, a security sector reform expert, Chukwuma Ume, said the military and the police should work collaboratively and move to the already liberated areas and use a non-kinetic approach to dissuade locals from joining the criminal gangs.

“Let me first say that we cannot entirely rule out the kinetic operation option from the fight against terrorism. What is obtainable in most parts of the world is the combination of both the stick and the carrot (both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches).

“The problem is that kinetic approach doesn’t have a long-lasting impact. Anybody who wants to solve the problem must come from a structural perspective in foundation by using a non-kinetic approach.

“You need to ask yourself: What are the predisposed factors to terrorism or militancy? Those problems can be solved without firing a bullet. Exclusion, social inequality, poverty, unemployment and even misconduct from law enforcement officers are some of the factors responsible. We still have so many other factors responsible,” he said.

Ume, who described the killing of kingpins as a temporary success, urged the military to maintain their presence in the areas cleared by troops in order not to give space for the terrorists to dominate again.

“Why don’t we begin to raise the redistribution of wealth? Why don’t we open more doors in the decision-making process of the country for economic self-reliance, health care services, education and so on. These are more holistic approaches to solve these problems than kinetic approaches.

“Like I said, the non-kinetic approach cannot be entirely relied on because some people are incorrigible, in the sense that they are not willing to take these opportunities even if they are provided,” he added.