Abubakar Kamarawa, the man who treats bandit kingpin, Bello Turji, has been arrested. According to reports, he is a health worker.
He was arrested during a military operation across three local government areas of Sokoto state,
The areas include Illela, Rabah and Goronyo, all in the eastern part of the state.
Abubakar admitted to having been treating bandits who were injured in a gun battle with security operatives and supplied them with intoxicants.
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Bello Turji, bandit kingpin who murdered 23 Sokoto travellers, seeks truce
He recalled how he treated Turji after he was injured on the head about three years ago.
The health worker, who owns a pharmaceutical shop at Kamarawa, said he was introduced to Turji by one Musa.
“Musa took me to Turji when he was shot on the head some years back. He took me to his camp where I treated him,” he said.
Bello Turji, has solicited for a truce with the federal and state governments after murdering at least 23 travellers about a week ago.
Bello Turji is believed to be the leader of the bandits that killed at least 23 Sokoto travellers.
The travellers were murdered after their vehicle ran into Bello Turji’s goons.
A journalist and former editor-in-chief of Daily Trust, Mahmud Jega, revealed in his column in Thisday newspaper that under Bello Turji’s rule, “there is no farming, no travelling and no markets in the territory he held sway.”
Like Boko Haram, Bello Turji taxes community members and rules them with an iron fist.
Bello Turji even got a singer to compose a song in his praise after making national headlines for the killing via fire, of 23 Sokoto travellers.
But after he became the most wanted terrorist in Nigeria with all the security agencies looking for him, he wrote a lengthy letter calling for a truce.
He said he was willing to drop his weapon in a truce that should have government forces also doing the same.
The Gobir Community Development Association (GCDA) had a few days ago, through its leader, Ibrahim Alhassan, also wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari over the atrocities of Bello Turji.
The group said Bello Turji has usurped the authority of the federal, state and local governments, the Sokoto Sultanate, the Shinkafi Emirate in Zamfara State and all the district and village heads under them.
The group said Sabon Birni, Goronyo and Isa LGAs in Sokoto State and Shinkafi LGA in Zamfara State are now under Bello Turji’s firm control, with his troops kidnapping and raping at will. “He blocks roads, sacks markets, seizes food and any material he fancies and kills anyone who resists,” the letter to Mr Buhari reads in part.
“He sacks village heads and appoints his own village heads. He levies taxes on communities.If any village fails to pay the levies, Bello Turji visits it with the instant and merciless attack, kills anyone he can find, including women and children.
“Among the villages that Turji sacked were Gajit, Lajinge, Tarah, Unguwar Lalle, Kurawa, Gangara and Garin Idi. A month earlier, Bello Turji sacked Garki village, five kilometres from Sabon Birni, and killed 80 people in one night.
“On Tuesday last week, this bandit carried out one of his most heinous acts yet. His goons stopped a bus that left Sabon Birni for Gusau, set it ablaze and burnt 23 people alive. His men stood guard around the bus while people were roasted.
“There is no farming, no travelling and no markets. The biggest problem we are facing today is that you are in your house and terrorists come and abuse you in front of your family. And all the communities that I told you about are taxed, and they have paid. But even though they have paid, they have not found peace,” the group said in the open letter