Terrorist Bello Turji surrenders arms, releases captives after Islamic clerics' intervention

Zamfara terrorism kingpin, Bello Turji, has released 32 kidnapped persons and agreed to stop attacking farmers following a series of meetings with some Islamic clerics in his hideout.

Musa Yusuf, a cleric popularly known as Asadus-Sunnah, disclosed the development at a religious gathering on Monday in Kaduna.

Mr Yusuf said Mr Turji also surrendered some of his arms after the meeting in the Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The cleric said Shinkafi residents engaged his team of clerics to appeal to Mr Turji to let them access their farms in the forest. He said the meeting took place three times in July in the Fakai forest.

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“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 (Mr Turji) also released 32 kidnapped captives as part of the peace agreement,” Mr Yusuf said and showed the video of some of the released captives and the difficult terrain they crossed to reach Mr Turji’s camp.

He said the freed persons, including children and women, had spent about four months in captivity. He said some of the women gave birth in captivity, while one suffered a snake bite.

Mr Yusuf said that since the deal, the area (Shinkafi axis) has enjoyed relative peace, and the locals are cultivating their farmlands without fear of being kidnapped.

Mr Yusuf said the clerics were still trying to persuade Mr Turji to accept total peace, but they did not ask him to surrender all his arms so as not to make him vulnerable to attack by other groups opposed to the peace process in the state.

He warned clerics attacking Mr Turji online that their utterances would only exacerbate the situation.

He said that while the deal with Mr Turji would not end terrorist attacks in Zamfara, the communities on his axis are enjoying peace.

The cleric commended President Bola Tinubu, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, the Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, and Senator Shehu Buba for supporting a non-kinetic approach in addressing the security challenges of the area.

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In October, Mr Turji warned that peace would continue to elude Zamfara State until the security forces and vigilante groups stopped attacking the Fulanis.

“This is why we are calling on all of you to come and collaborate with us for peace to reign and stop the bloodbath in Zamfara. Guns and airstrikes will not stop us because we are not afraid of death.

“The blame game over the worsening security situation between Governor Lawal and Bello Matawalle, now the Minister of State for Defence, was political, saying both politicians do not have their people’s best interests at heart, ” Mr Turji said, in a video clip.