*Turji also accused the Nigerian government and Zamfara State government of reneging on a series of promises made to them.
Leader of the banditry group operating along Shinkafi/Sokoto Road, Zamfara State, Kachalla Turji, has said members of the group are not afraid of death.
Turji also accused the Nigerian government and Zamfara State government of reneging on a series of promises made to them.
He disclosed this during a peace meeting with popular Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Tuesday at Makkai forest.
Turji lamented that Fulani were being singled out, impoverished and beaten on the road by indigenes of Zamfara.
He told Gumi that without reconciliation, there was no way the problem would end, adding that only God knows how many weapons they had and what they could do if they wanted to destabilise the state.
The top commander of the bandits added that they were not afraid to die and that even if he died, hundreds of people were available to take over leadership from him.
Sources told SaharaReporters that Turji was trained by Buharin Daji, a notorious bandit that was killed by security operatives about three years ago.
Turji took charge of the Shinkafi armed wing of the group after the demise of Daji.
Zamfara, like other North-West states, has in the last 10 years faced devastating attacks from armed bandits.
A committee set up to investigate the menace of armed banditry in the region, headed by Mohammed Abubakar, a former Inspector General of Police, reported that in Zamfara State between June 2011 and May 2019, 4,983 women were widowed; 25,050 children were orphaned; and more than 190,000 people were displaced as a result of armed banditry.
Source: Sahara Reporters New York
