UPDATED: Bandit leader Turji has not surrendered – DHQ

The Defence Headquarters has denied reports that bandit leader Bello Turji has surrendered to the military.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Markus Kangye, made this known on Thursday in Abuja during a briefing on the activities of the Armed Forces.

“Simple answer to the question about terrorist leader, Bello Turji; Turji has not surrendered, we are still on the lookout for him,” he said.

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

Recently, there were reports that the bandit leader had surrendered his arms and released 32 kidnap victims following a peace initiative brokered by Islamic clerics in Zamfara State.

Kangye also dismissed allegations of extrajudicial killings by troops in the South-East, describing them as unfounded.

Responding to claims by Amnesty International, Kangye said the military does not engage in indiscriminate violence.

“What do you mean by extrajudicial killing? Is it that soldiers carry their weapons, go to the street and start shooting people? You know what Amnesty International are doing. You know what they used to publish.

“Like I always tell you, everybody with a phone in his hand is a potential source of information to the whole world.

“But I can tell you that the military is not engaged in any extrajudicial killing in the South East,” he said.

On the recent protests by some retired military personnel, Kangye said the matter was addressed last week by the Military Pensions Board in a meeting with the affected veterans.

He explained that only a few individuals were involved in the demonstrations, and that the Board, alongside the Chief of Accounts and Budget at the Defence Headquarters and the Minister of Finance, had engaged with them to resolve the issues.

He said, “This issue was addressed by the military pensions board last week. I remember when the chief of accounts and budget in the defence headquarters went for the meeting with him and those aggrieved retired personnel.

“You see, one issue to understand is that when two or three jumped up and used the mouths of others to propagate or send out messages, it can be said to be the retired personnel of the armed forces did this. So the few that came out, the chairman military pensions board and the chief of accounts and budget of the defence headquarters and also the minister of finance, there were members that went to talk and speak with them and I think they were sure that that issue has been addressed, ” he said.

Corroborating Kangye’s position, the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, said the Chief of Defence Staff met on Tuesday with a five-man standing committee set up by the Ministry of Defence to address veterans’ welfare concerns.

The committee, he said is working on modalities to improve support for military veterans.

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“I want to inform you that just yesterday the CDS had a meeting with a five-man standing committee which was constituted by the Ministry of Defence to address this issue. It has been headed by a retired Air Commodore.

“They were here yesterday afternoon. They had a meeting with CDS and modernities have been worked out on how to address the welfare needs of our veterans, ” he said.