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Nigeria’s Armed Forces have issued a firm warning to notorious bandit leader Bello Turji, declaring that intelligence-driven operations are steadily closing in and that his capture is a matter of time.
Major General Michael Onoja, Director of Defence Media Operations, delivered the message on Saturday during the monthly operational briefing of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), stating that Turji and other criminal elements had no safe haven left as security agencies intensified surveillance and coordinated offensives across affected areas.
“We are on his trail. One of these days, you will hear that he has been taken out, because he cannot hide for long or forever,” Onoja told journalists.
Turji, born in Shinkafi in Zamfara State, has been one of Nigeria’s most feared bandit leaders, operating across the northwest of the country and linked to a series of mass killings, kidnappings, and attacks on civilian communities. He currently faces an 11-count terrorism charge filed by the Federal Government in December 2024, and a Federal High Court in Abuja has authorised his prosecution in absentia after he failed to appear. Several of his top associates, including his second-in-command, have been killed in recent military operations.
Onoja also addressed growing public curiosity about the ongoing closed-door court martial of alleged coup plotters, urging patience and citing national security as the reason details could not yet be disclosed. “The issue of the court martial is not within my purview to comment on. In the interest of national security, I urge patience. In due course, all the information you require will be made available,” he said.
On international security cooperation, the defence spokesman confirmed that United States military personnel were providing training, intelligence, and advisory support to Nigerian forces, and had contributed meaningfully to recent operations. He was clear, however, that American troops were not engaged in direct combat on Nigerian soil.
