Despite CDS’ vow, lawmaker cries out, says ‘Bello Turji running riot in Sokoto, imposes N25m levy on villages’

The lawmaker representing Sabon Birnin Gobir constituency in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Hon. Aminu Boza, has raised an alarm over the invasion of some communities in the eastern part of the state by wanted bandit leader, Bello Turji, whom he accused of imposing a N25 million levy on villages.

In a post shared on X on Thursday by counter-insurgency and security expert, Zagazola Makama, Boza alleged that the notorious bandit leader has been sighted several times in eastern Sokoto, where he has reportedly imposed the levy on villages, vowing to visit them with destruction if they failed to comply within a stipulated time.

Makama said Boza raised the alarm while addressing journalists on Wednesday, calling for urgent action to curb Turji’s activities.

“Bello Turji is currently in the Isa and Sabon Birni axis of Sokoto. He has even imposed a ₦25 million levy per village in some communities,” Makama wrote, quoting the lawmaker.

“The lawmaker urged security agencies and local authorities to intensify operations against bandits,” he said.

The development is coming exactly 163 days, which is more than five months after the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Major General Christopher Musa vowed to bring down Turji and end his marauding campaign of killings and destruction.

Ever since the CDS boasted that he would bring Turji to book, neither he, nor any other arm of the military, or security agencies have been able to apprehend the notorious bandit or tell Nigerians why it’s been so difficult to capture Turji.

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