Former Chairman of the Bandits Prosecution Committee and APC Chieftain Abdullahi Shinkafi has alleged that federal authorities prevented the imminent capture of notorious bandit leader Bello Turji by halting security operations in favor of peace negotiations.
Speaking in an interview with Channels TV from 10:02, Shinkafi revealed how close security forces came to apprehending the high-profile criminal before the operation was called off. “The personnel of civilian JTF were deployed in collaboration with the community protection guard to fight Turji. And as the fight continued, they were about to capture Turji and many of his foot soldiers in their hundreds, but the fight was halted by the federal government. The federal authorities halted the fight and told them to go back to settle in Shinkafi, that they were going into dialogue with Turji,” he stated.
Shinkafi reported that a delegation comprising a security intelligence committee headed by Senator Buba, along with security agencies and religious leaders, traveled to the bandits’ hideout to meet with Turji. However, the bandit leader initially refused to participate in negotiations, demanding direct involvement from the state governor.
Despite Turji’s initial resistance to the peace dialogue, intensive discussions eventually led to a breakthrough. Following these negotiations, the bandit leader released two videos calling on all armed bandits and non-state actors across 14 local government areas to submit themselves to the peace dialogue process.
However, Shinkafi expressed strong doubts about the federal government’s peace initiative, describing it as potentially ineffective without proper planning and implementation strategies. He questioned the wisdom of negotiating with criminal groups, citing fundamental concerns about their reliability and trustworthiness.
The APC chieftain characterized the armed bandits as inherently unreliable, insincere, dishonest, and prone to betrayal, suggesting that any peace agreement with such groups would be fundamentally flawed. He argued that the federal government must develop comprehensive modalities and strategies before proceeding with such negotiations to ensure meaningful and lasting results.
