Military arrests bandit commander’s arms supplier in Zamfara
The military high command announced on Thursday that troops had arrested a suspected gun smuggler who provided firearms to bandit leader Bello Turji.
The military did not reveal the identities of the three people arrested in Kaduna between November 14 and 17, 2023.
Mr. Turzi and 18 others were wanted by the National Defense Headquarters on November 14, 2022, with a bounty of N95 million placed on their heads.
Turzi is considered one of the most dangerous bandit kingpins and was allegedly responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people, including women and children, in January 2022.
He is also suspected of being involved in the 2021 attack on Garki village in Sokoto in which over 80 people were killed in one night.
Turzi had repeatedly evaded military airstrikes aimed at killing him.
The Director of Defense Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, told reporters in Abuja that the suspects were arrested by the military while on their way to hand over arms and ammunition to a bandit commander in Zamfara.
He said: “Between November 14 and 17, 2023, troops in separate operations arrested three suspected arms traffickers (names withheld) in Zango-Katafu and Kagaruko local councils in Kaduna State. ) was arrested.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that they were on their way to deliver ammunition to notorious terror leader Bello Turji in Zamfara state.
“The troops recovered 504 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 100 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, three RPG chargers, three mobile phones, one ATM card and one vehicle.”
Source: dailypost.ng