The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa (CDS), has again vowed to arrest notorious terrorist and bandit kingpin Bello Turji.

The defence chief was a guest on a Television 2024 Year-In-Review programme on December 31, 2024.

He said the commanders of the wanted bandit leader terrorising the North-West geopolitical zone have been eliminated and his other allies arrested.

Gen Musa said it is only a matter of time before the military gets hold of Turji who have wreaked havoc in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi communities, despoiling and kidnapping residents for hefty ransom.

“The update is that since he knows we’ve been after him, he has been operating underground and we are conducting operations,” the CDS said when asked for an update on Turji who has been on the run for a while.

“What we have been doing, of recent, is that we are picking everybody close to him; all those giving him support in one way or the other, we have picked them, we have killed his commanders. It’s just a matter of time,” the defence chief added.

Gen Musa also said over 120,000 terrorists have surrendered in the North-East, emphasising that some of them were forced into insurgency. The defence chief said identification process has been on to separate the masterminds from those who are coerced into the dastard acts. He vowed that the masterminds would face the law.