Notorious terrorist leader, Bello Turji, has reportedly surrendered some of his arms and released 32 kidnapped victims as part of a peace initiative facilitated by Islamic clerics in Zamfara State.
Musa Yusuf, a cleric popularly known as Asadus-Sunnah, disclosed the development at a religious gathering on Monday in Kaduna.
Yusuf said Turji also surrendered some of his arms after the meeting in the Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The cleric said Shinkafi residents engaged his team of clerics to appeal to Turji to let them access their farms in the forest. He said the meeting took place three times in July in the Fakai forest.
“We met Mr Turji, Dan Bakkolo, Black, Kanawa, and Malam Ila. The speculation that Dan Bakkolo was killed is not true. These individuals are responsible for the insecurity in the area, and they all agreed to the peace proposals,” Yusuf said.
We agreed that the Fulanis must be allowed to go to town without being stereotyped or killed by the vigilante.”
He explained that the group surrendered some of their weapons in three phases and allowed residents to resume farming activities in forest areas previously under their control.
As part of the peace deal, Turji also released 32 kidnapped individuals. Yusuf presented a video showing the difficult terrain the freed captives had to cross to reach Turji’s camp.
Yusuf noted that the clerics are still engaging with Turji to secure a complete cessation of hostilities.
He added that they deliberately did not demand the surrender of all weapons to avoid making Turji vulnerable to attacks from rival groups that may not be part of the peace process.
The cleric commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, the Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, and Senator Shehu Buba for supporting a non-kinetic approach in addressing the security challenges of the area.
In October, Turji warned that peace would continue to elude Zamfara State until the security forces and vigilante groups stopped attacking the Fulanis.
“This is why we are calling on all of you to come and collaborate with us for peace to reign and stop the bloodbath in Zamfara. Guns and airstrikes will not stop us because we are not afraid of death.
“The blame game over the worsening security situation between Governor Lawal and Bello Matawalle, now the Minister of State for Defence, was political, saying both politicians do not have their people’s best interests at heart, ” Turji said, in a video clip.