Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state has hailed the Nigerian military and other security forces for their efforts in eliminating notorious bandits in his state and beyond and claimed “it’s only a matter of time” before Bello Turji, is eliminated.
“With what we have in place, with the collaboration between us (the state government) and the Federal Government, security agencies, believe me, it is only a matter of time; Turji would be killed very, very soon.”
The governor’s comments come just days after the military made significant gains against bandits, killing wanted bandit leader Halilu Sububu, who had been terrorising citizens in Zamfara, Sokoto and other parts of the North-West. Sububu and more than 30 other bandits were killed last week.
The Governor said that the killing of Sububu has brought some sort of calmness in Zamfara and other surrounding states that have been constantly terrorised by Sububu and his lieutenants.
“I am one of the happiest persons concerning what we are going through in Zamfara State as far as banditry is concerned. As you know Halilu Sububu was one of the major kingpins in terms of banditry in Zamfara State and the Northern part of the country,” Governor Lawal said.
“He controls large chunk of bandits, full of money, well-connected in terms of sourcing for arms and so on and so forth, and today that guy is no more.
“It should be a different thing now, you know they (Sububu’s followers) don’t have what it takes, they don’t have the capacity like Halilu Sububu, so right now they are in total disarray, including the likes of Turji.”
The governor added he does not expect the elimination of the Turji to end to banditry in the state but he is confident “it will bring it down significantly”.
Governor Lawal believes the military is on the right trajectory and must not let up.
This is crucial for ending banditry completely, according to him.
“What we need to do is to sustain this military pressure,” he said.
“If we are able to sustain this pressure within the next two weeks to one month, believe me, it will be a different story as far as banditry is concerned.”
