The Defence Headquarters, on Thursday, said men of the Nigerian Army in separate operations arrested gunrunners supplying weapons to bandit leader, Bello Turji.
The three suspects, whose identities were not disclosed by the military high command, were arrested in Kaduna in operations conducted between November 14 and 17, 2023.
Addressing members of the press in Abuja, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said the suspects were on their way to supply arms and ammunition to the bandit leader in Zamfara when they were arrested by troops.
“Between November 14 and 17 2023, troops in separate operations arrested three suspected arms dealers (names withheld) in Zango Kataf and Kagarko LGAs of Kaduna State. Preliminary investigation revealed that they were on their way to deliver ammunition to Bello Turji, who is a notorious terrorist leader in Zamfara State. Troops recovered 504 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammo, 100 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammo, three RPG chargers, three mobile phones, one ATM card and one vehicle.” Buba stated
The troops according to Buba discovered an Improvised Explosive Device with a letter in the Biu area of Borno.
“On November 20, 2023, troops while on patrol discovered an IED with a hand-written letter in Biu LGA of Borno State. Analysis is ongoing, “ he said.
On number of terrorist neutralised across various theatres of operations, the defence spokesperson stated 99 terrorists were killed while 198 of them were arrested.
“Troops also arrested 49 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 139 kidnapped hostages. In the South-South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of N1,018,483,900.00 only.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area destroyed 245 dugout pits, 31 boats, 69 storage tanks, 23 vehicles, 162 cooking ovens, one pumping machine, three outboard engines, one tricycle, and 50 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 578,900 litres of stolen crude oil, 454,330 litres of illegally refined AGO, and 10,000 litres of DPK.”
According to media reports, Turji and 18 others were declared wanted by the Defence Headquarters on November 14, 2022, with a bounty of N95m on them.
Regarded as one of the most dangerous bandit kingpins, Turji was reportedly involved in the alleged killing of about 200 people, including women and children, in January 2022.
He was also said to be behind the attack on Garki village in Sokoto, where over 80 people were murdered in a night in 2021.
The Bandit had on several occasions escaped military air strikes aimed at killing him.
