The Rise of Turji: The Notorious Bandit Leader Terrorizing Northwestern Nigeria
The Rise of Turji: The Notorious Bandit Leader Terrorizing Northwestern Nigeria
On February 2, an armed group leader appeared in a short video clip and threatened to invite terrorists and other criminal armed groups from neighboring African countries to destabilize Nigeria. The clip was captured during a reconciliation event organized in the forest by self-appointed negotiator and renowned Nigerian Islamic cleric, Dr. Ahmad Gumi. The person behind the threat was Turji Kachalla, who many also known as Bello Gudde or Muhammad Bello (HumAngle, February 4).
Turji is 27-years old, has wives and children, and was born and raised in the pastoral Fulani settlements of the Shinkafi community in that state of Zamfara, where he became a champion among Fulani youths because of his hatred for any tribe or group who looks down upon the Fulani or their cattle. It was said that Turji fought many local farmers in Shinkafi communities before he finally joined a Fulani militia armed group under the leadership of Buharin Daji, a well-known bandit, now deceased (Militant Leadership Monitor, March 2021). He began a career in banditry as a low-level member who had no strong link to the then high-level leader Buharin Daji.
From 2011 to 2018, Buharin Daji was the most dangerous bandit leader who masterminded many assaults and deadly attacks in Zamfara and other Northwestern states. In 2016, the former governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, engaged Daji in peace talks. Daji agreed to cease hostilities but later relapsed and renewed attacks in the state. Daji’s career, however, was ended by one of his lieutenants, Dogo Gide, who killed him in their camp at Madada forest in Dansadau District, Zamfara (Daily Trust, March 15, 2018).
Turji’s Leadership Style
Turji was mentored by Halilu Subutu, who was also a notorious bandit leader terrorizing community of Zamfara and Sokoto states, and Shehu Rekeb. He respected them because of their coordination and connections with other Sahelian jihadists. Turji, however, started building his criminal network with members of his close family who were mostly orphans. In his interaction with Dr. Gumi, Turji revealed that most of his fighters were victims of injustice after their means of livelihood were disrupted by Nigerian authorities and the civilian joint task force (Yan Sakai) after which no one offered to help them. As a result of this, Turji and his accomplices started funding their criminal group by rustling cows belonging to innocent people in the region in order to buy weapons (TheCable.ng, February 13).
Turji leveraged his connections and young age, which gave him an upper hand in successfully recruiting other young Fulani combatants from different camps in Zamfara, including Zurmi, Sabon Birni, Anka and other communities. There is little knowledge of the exact numbers of his field soldiers, but he is believed to have at least 200 members under his control in communities east of Shinkafi and in Zurmi, while other commanders are in charge of Isa and Sabon Birni in Sokoto State. Most of his foot soldiers are under 20 years-old and are popularly known as “Yan Shabakwai” in the Hausa language, which means “seventeen years” (Leadership.ng, February 5).
Turji’s Attacks on Civilians
In July, Turji took more than 200 people hostage, killed 63 people, and set over 338 houses ablaze in Shinkafi in an attempt to compel security forces to release his father, who was detained by Nigerian security agencies because of his son’s involvement in criminal armed banditry activities in the state. Turji vowed that he would release those he seized only after his father had been freed. His father had relocated to Jigawa State after he failed to stop his son from committing terror-related activities in Zamfara. Turji, however, accused Shinkafi locals of leaking information to the security agencies on his father’s whereabouts. The government finally had to intervene by sending a mediator to hand over Turji’s father in exchange for the release of more than 200 abductees (Daily Trust, July 19).
Several days before the telecommunications shutdown in Zamfara in September, Turji also attacked Sabon Birni, Sokoto State, where more than 14 villages were forcibly deserted, 1,000 cattle were rustled, and an unspecified number of residents fled their communities to Maradi, Niger as refugees (21st Century Chronicle, August 10). The most recent attack that generated attention was Turji’s attack on a joint military base, codenamed Burkusuma Camp, also in Sabon Birni. The camp is located specifically in Dama community, which is another community in Sokoto that has been facing frequent attacks from Turji and his allies. An unspecified number of security agents were killed at Burkusuma Camp, while military vehicles were burnt and rifles and other important military supplies were pilfered. The attack forced the military forces to flee to a community at the border area with Niger called Basira. The Nigerian military claimed the attack was carried out by Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), despite the fact that Turji claimed responsibility (thewhistler.ng, September 27).
Turji further abducted the Zamafara state speaker’s father, stepmother, and siblings. The families spent over two months in his custody because he declined any ransom to release the hostages (Premiumtimesng.com, September 16). Eight weeks after the abduction in October, Turji informed the family a day before their rescue by security forces that their father had died due to heart failure in captivity (Leadership.ng, October 2).
Reconciliation and Amnesty
Dr. Ahmad Gumi is a prominent and controversial Islamic cleric who often criticizes Nigerian authorities for using military force against bandits. He, for example, argued in a long post on his Facebook page titled “Zamfara: The Flaring Of Crisis” that military action against criminal herdsmen and bandits will not solve the security challenge, but “will only worsen the situation” (Globaltimesng.com, September 6). On February 2, Gumi, who believes that the Fulani face discrimination in Nigeria, engaged Turji on reconciliation at Makkai forest in Zamfara. The event hosted more than 200 of Turji`s soldiers who came heavily armed. Turji asserted that his combatants were not afraid to die and, even if he was eventually killed by Nigerian security forces, hundreds of his boys in different parts of northwestern Nigeria were ready to take over leadership from him (Saharareporters.com, February 3).
Turji has been accusing the Nigerian government and security agencies of maltreating the Fulani and singling them out as if they are not citizens of the country. He further insisted that he is more valuable in Shinkafi and neighboring communities than the security agencies because he is providing protection to locals. In addition, he alleged the Nigerian government and Zamfara State government had reneged on a series of promises while indigenes of Zamfara are stealing from and beating Fulanis on the roadways. Turji proudly concluded his speech by saying that only God knows how many weapons his fighters have and what they will do if they desired to fully destabilize the state.
For his part, Dr. Gumi asserted that Turji and his fighters are not afraid of death, and the majority of them are illiterates who need proper education and enlightenment. Gumi, therefore, opined that only reconciliation can end killings in Zamfara (Daily Trust, February 20). Turji had on multiple occasions rejected peace deals and amnesties from state governments. Shinkafi residents and neighboring communities made several attempts to reconcile with him in order to have access to their farmlands, schools, hospitals and markets, but he declined their offers as well (Daily Trust, February 20).
Conclusion
The shutdown of telecommunications in Zamfara since September has forced Turji to relocate his headquarters from Fakai in Zurmi, Zamfara to the east of Isa in Sokoto State (Terrorism Monitor, September 24). The new headquarters is situated between Tozai and Suruddubu and, according to locals there, Turji visited several villages warning people to abide by his rules or risk his deadly attacks (Premiumtimesng.com, September 30). Turji’s headquarters in Tozai is very strategic because it will provide him an easy way of uniting with his mentor, Halilu Subutu. This will help Turji realize his goal of becoming the most powerful banditry leader controlling communities in Niger that share a border with Sokoto and will, therefore, also extend his banditry into another country. Given that negotiations with Turji have thus far failed to bring stability and security to the Nigeria-Niger border region, in addition to Zamfara, Sokoto, and other states, Turji’s influence will only continue to spread.
