Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has expressed confidence in the Nigerian Armed Forces’ ability to eliminate the notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, describing his days as “numbered.”
“I believe Bello Turji is a matter of time, his days are numbered because I can see the commitment from the Armed Forces in terms of taking Bello Turji out,” Lawal stated during an interview on Politics Today aired on Channels Television.
“In fact, that same axis where the incident took place is actually the axis of Bello Turji. I am confident, I am optimistic, and I believe the Nigerian Armed Forces this time around are ready to take him out,”
The governor also addressed the recent military airstrike in Zamfara State that tragically claimed the lives of over 16 residents in Tungar Kara, Maradun Local Government Area.
He clarified that the airstrike was not intentional and provided insights into the sequence of events leading to the tragedy.
“We have been battling issues within the last three days as a result of the airstrike. Let me say this, I have full information on what happened that fateful day, because we made a distress call to the air force in terms of some bandits attacking communities, and they quickly responded, and they were able to neutralise a lot of bandits,” Lawal explained.
However, he revealed that during a subsequent operation, unintended casualties occurred.
“On the second time when we made the same reports, unfortunately at that time, there were some what we call the CPGs and some of those communities that came to rescue those under attack, and in the process, they were hit by the air force. I believe it was not intentional. It was one of those things in this kind of situation; sometimes there may be collateral damage, and that was what happened.”
The governor expressed his condolences to the affected families and detailed the measures taken to address the aftermath.
“I set up a powerful delegation led by my deputy governor for an on-the-spot assessment and to commiserate with the families of those that lost their lives. In the process, what happened was fully explained, and they quite understood it was not intentional,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force has deployed a fact-finding team to investigate the incident, as part of efforts to provide clarity and prevent future occurrences.
