Following reports that Bello Turji, a bandit leader, surrendered his arms and released 32 kidnap victims following a peace initiative brokered by Islamic clerics in Zamfara State, the military high command has dismissed the claims, stating that operations to apprehend the notorious bandit leader is still ongoing.

Turji, a wanted bandit leader operating mainly in Zamfara and Sokoto States, is accused of masterminding several attacks on communities in the North-West.

However, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, while briefing newsmen today in Abuja, said the claims, which surfaced last week, were false, despite assertions by a respected Islamic cleric who claimed to have facilitated the process.

On the fight against economic saboteurs across the country’s creeks and waterways, the General noted that, within the period, troops arrested 29 suspected oil thieves, including cultists, while destroying and recovering scores of illegally possessed economic assets.

On its operations across other theatres, the Director informed that at least 100 terrorists and their collaborators, including logistics suppliers, were arrested within the period.

Responding to a question on Amnesty International’s latest report alleging extrajudicial killings in the Southeast, the military spokesman dismissed the claims as unfounded, insisting that the armed forces cannot deploy troops to protect citizens and then turn around to shoot them.

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