Fresh intelligence reports allege that notorious bandit leader Bello Turji’s fighters are conducting military-style weapons training and tactical drills in communities across Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State, deepening fears of coordinated attacks along the Sokoto-Zamfara border corridor.
Eastern Sokoto communities are on edge again. Fresh intelligence reports allege that fighters loyal to Nigeria’s most feared bandit kingpin, Bello Turji, are currently conducting weapons training and tactical drills in remote border communities along the Sokoto-Zamfara corridor — and the details are chilling.
The alleged training activities are taking place in communities such as Bingabale, Bafarawa, Bargaja and Gebe, all within Isa Local Government Area in the Eastern Senatorial District — long considered Turji’s operational heartland.
The alarm was raised by Basharu Altine, Sokoto State coordinator of the Movement for Social Justice and Good Governance. According to The Punch, Altine alleged that some of Turji’s key associates, including Illa Manawa and Dodo, believed to be the bandit kingpin’s younger brother, are involved in the exercise, with fighters receiving training on sophisticated weapons recently introduced into the area.
It gets worse. Intelligence gathered from Binchi suggested that a night-vision device allegedly purchased by Turji last week was among equipment recently delivered to the group’s camps. There are also alarming reports of newly arrived fighters with suspected Boko Haram links being brought in to bolster Turji’s ranks.
Intelligence sources fear that coordinated attacks could be launched against some local government headquarters before the peak of the rainy season.
Security agencies are yet to officially respond. Meanwhile, communities already battered by years of attacks, kidnappings and cattle rustling are left wondering whether help will arrive before the next strike does.
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