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Zamfara bandit leader, Bello Turji, accuses FG of fooling Nigerians on campaign against insecurity

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The notorious bandits’ leader terrorizing Zamfara, Sokoto, and Niger States, Bello Turji Kachalla aka Turji, said on Saturday the Nigerian government was not ready to end to banditry because some of its officials profit from the menace.

Turji, who stated this on a Hausa television channel, said the government provoked the terrorists to violate their peace agreement with the locals following the recent aerial bombardment of his home by the military.

The bandit and his gang had earlier this year killed 200 people, including women and children in the state.

However, the Zamfara State Deputy Governor, Muhammad Hassan Nasiha, announced on August 21 that the terrorist had accepted the state government’s peace overtures.

Read also:In leaked audio, notorious Zamfara bandit kingpin, Bello Turji, vows vengeance over military raid

But 12 members of Turji’s gang and his relatives were killed when the Nigerian Air Force bombed his home in Fakai village, Shinkafi local government area of the state on September 18.

The Defence Headquarters on November placed a N5 million bounty on Turji and 18 of his followers over their criminal activities in the state.

In the interview, the bandits’ leader accused the government of violating a peace agreement they made with him to end banditry in the state.

He said: “I wonder if truly the government wanted to kill me. I think they only wanted to provoke me by making me renege on my promise not to kill anyone. If they could spot my house why couldn’t they sight and kill me because I only left the house a couple of minutes when the bombardment occurred.

“The people should know their enemy from the onset. The government is provoking us so that we will take revenge on the poor masses.

“The government is only fooling the gullible and naive people that they want to end banditry whereas in actual sense, they are the ones fueling the activities of the bandits and also benefiting from them.

“Peace is priceless and I’m ready to be a peace advocate unless the government wants me to be a warmonger. I’m ready for either peace or war. Whatever, the government wants, we can give them a multitude.”

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