Shaudo Alku, a lieutenant to notorious terrorist leader Bello Turji, has been confirmed killed by a military airstrike in Sokoto State.
According to a Facebook post by the Nigerian Army, the air component of Operation Fasan Yama targeted Mr Alku, also known as Kallamu by locals, during the exercise on 18 May.
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The deceased and other terrorists were hit near Tunfa Primary School in the Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The military said Mr Alku was invited from the Niger Republic for a meeting with terrorist commanders.
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This operation, the army said, was part of a sustained military effort to weaken the structure and influence of the terror group, including that of Mr Turji, who has been on a security watchlist.
Mr Turji was responsible for numerous atrocities across the North-western states of Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina.
Who is Bello Turji?
Named Muhammadu Bello at birth, Mr Turji rose to become one of the most feared terror kingpins in Nigeria, operating from hideouts in Zamfara and Sokoto States.
Mr Turji commands a large group of armed fighters known for brutal raids on rural communities, mass abductions, extortion and violent clashes with security forces, especially their sworn enemies, the local vigilantes.
He had positioned himself as a freedom fighter for the “marginalised” Fulani ethnic group. On many occasions, Mr Turji raided villages, claiming to be avenging the killing or arrest of his kinsmen.
In one of his propaganda videos, Mr Turji justified banditry and violent raids on helpless communities.
The ideology-based Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) terrorist, Mr Turji is also leveraging the use of social media to promote his activities.
Atrocities linked to Turji’s network
Mr Turji began to make headlines around 2020, but his notoriety peaked in the following years with several high-profile attacks, such as the brutal killing of more than 20 travellers, including pregnant women and children, on a Sokoto highway in December 2021.
A few weeks later, Mr Turji wrote an open letter to former President Muhammadu Buhari and the emir of Shinkafi, proposing a ceasefire in the North-west and a peace agreement.
In the letter, he said he was ready to lay down his arms if five conditions were met. He listed the conditions as the dissolution of unofficial vigilante groups in the North-west, a meeting with traditional rulers and religious leaders, a stop to the ‘marginalisation’ of Fulanis, honest discussions between bandits, traditional rulers and politicians, and the participation of first-class emirs in a security meeting.
This was after a truce with the Zamfara State government failed in 2019.
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Mr Turji is among the 97 terrorists declared wanted by the Nigerian Defence Headquarters.
He escaped death twice after the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji bombed his house in 2021 and 2022, killing many of his foot soldiers.
Mr Turji is also notorious for mass kidnapping, including school abductions. He has funded his atrocities through ransom collected from families of kidnapped victims and taxes imposed on farming communities in the North-west.
Recently, he displaced over 50 villages in the Isa LGA of Sokoto State.
