Bello Turji Says He Is Not Afraid of Death

Notorious bandit leader Bello Turji has declared that he and his associates are not afraid of death, stating that they wouldn’t have taken up arms if they were. Turji made the declaration in a recently released video, where he threatened the Nigerian government for deploying top military officials to Sokoto State in a bid to counter his group. In the video, which has been circulating online, Turji warned the government against sending Service Chiefs to combat his men, expressing defiance against the military. “If they were afraid of dying, we wouldn’t have taken up arms in the first place. Stop sending Service Chiefs after us,” Turji said. This statement comes days after Turji and his group were seen celebrating in another viral video, where they claimed to have seized two Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) belonging to the Nigerian Army. However, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ) refuted these claims, explaining that the MRAPs were not captured but rather became immobile after getting stuck in swampy terrain during an operation against bandits in Zamfara State. The DHQ assured that the vehicles were demobilized and could not be extricated due to the challenging environment. In response to the growing security concerns in the region, the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa, and other high-ranking military officials visited Sokoto State on Tuesday. They declared their readiness to intensify military operations against Turji and other criminal elements terrorizing the North West region.