Bandits Kingpin, Bello Turji Now Operating Underground And We Will Soon Pick Him, Says Defence Chief Musa

General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, has revealed that notorious terrorist kingpin Bello Turji has been driven underground by the Nigerian military, following the elimination or arrest of most of his aides and commanders by troops.

The defence chief stated this while appearing on Channels TV’s 2024 Year-In-Review programme, adding that 120,000 terrorists had surrendered as some of them were forced into insurgency.

Musa said identification process has been on to separate the masterminds from those who are coerced into the dastard acts. He vowed that the masterminds would "face the law.”

This is even as he vowed to arrest Bello Turji in no distant time.

According to him, the commanders of the wanted bandit leader terrorising the North-West geopolitical zone have been eliminated and his other allies arrested.

Gen Musa said it was only a matter of time before the military gets hold of Turji who has wreaked havoc in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi communities, destroying and kidnapping residents for hefty ransom.

“The update is that since he knows we’ve been after him, he has been operating underground and we are conducting operations,” the CDS said when asked for an update on Turji who has been on the run for a while.

“What we have been doing, of recent, is that we are picking everybody close to him; all those giving him support in one way or the other, we have picked them, we have killed his commanders. It’s just a matter of time,” the defence chief added.

Turji has on multiple occassions dared the Nigerian Army to arrest him or attack him at his base.

He has consistently claimed that the Nigerian military knows his location if they really wanted to arrest him.