The most wanted bandit kingpin in Zamfara, Bello Turji, has explained why he and other bandits decided to go into banditry in northern Nigeria.
The notorious bandit, who spoke in a documentary on Trust TV, said injustice against Fulani is what plunged the country into the dire situation.
According to Turji, the first time he saw a human being slaughtered was in a market in Shinkafi.
He said vigilantes brought a man near the Shinkafi abattoir in broad daylight and slaughtered him in front of everyone to see.
The bandit leader said herders had to fight back when they were denied access to Shinkafi in Zamfara.
However, some other bandit kingpins have claimed that Nigeria has been reduced to a killing field because they have been pushed to the wall.
In the interview with Trust TV, another bandit kingpin, Shehu Rekeb, said there is hardly a day without Nigerians being killed.
The bandit kingpin said the situation is so bad that even the president himself cannot help but cry in silence.
Rekeb said, “Every passing hour, Nigerians are killed either by either bandits, security personnel, or vigilantes in Niger, Sokoto, and Kaduna. Everyone you see carrying a gun is out there to kill a Nigerian.
“This is the dire situation Nigeria has found itself in that one cannot help but shed tears.”
‘Dialogue offer, a hoax’
Rekeb argued that had the concerned authorities kept their promise on dialogue, banditry would have been a thing of the past.
He said his gang was asked for armistice which they agreed only to it was nothing but a hoax.
“After we agreed with a dialogue offer, we were left in the bush with guns.”
Banditry and kidnapping for ransom have been ravaging the North West. There are more than 785,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Zamfara alone.
The crisis, which has orphaned thousands of children, has spilled over to states like Katsina, Sokoto, and Niger.
Source Trust TV
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