NAF strikes Turji’s Sokoto camp, kills three kingpins, others

•Bandits kill driver, abduct two on Abuja-Kaduna road
•Six B’Haram terrorists surrender to troops in Lake Chad

Airstrikes by the Air component of Operation Hadarin Daji (OPHD) of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Bello Turji’s camp between Zamfara and Sokoto states has killed scores of fighters including three kingpins.

Bandits have killed a driver, simply identified as Danladi Jobe, and abducted two others along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

Meanwhile, at least six Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered to troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), in the Lake Chad region.

The Guardian gathered that the airstrikes were conducted a few hours after the terrorists carried out a reprisal attack on a unit of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) at Forward Operating Base (FOB), in response to the killing of seven bandits and recovery of seven AK-47 rifles, four motorcycles and other items.

Eight CJTF members paid the supreme price during a gun battle with the bandits.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in the Lake Chad region, that acting on intelligence on the withdrawal of the attackers towards the axis of Shinkafi, the air component immediately dispatched aircraft to track down the terrorists.

Sources said the terrorists were trailed to Kagara Forest under a Mango tree between Shinkafi and Isa. NAF aircraft reportedly attacked the camp in multiple waves, leading to the instant obliteration of scores of the terrorists.

The fleeing bandits were intercepted and mopped up by the ground troops in an ambush at Makwaruwa village in Sabon Birni of Isa Local Council.
Battle damage assessment indicated that some top bandits like Kachallah Uban Daba, Dan Jangeru and Dogo Na Hants died, while 13 others sustained injuries. Notorious bandit, Bello Turji, reportedly escaped the attack.

A resident of Jere, Yahuza Alhassan, told our correspondent on the phone, yesterday, that the incident took place around 9.33 p.m. at Dogon-Fili, a few kilometres away from Jere town.

He said the deceased was returning from a neighbouring village market when the bandits suddenly emerged from the bush and opened fire on the car, killing the driver instantly.

“The bandits after killing the driver, now went after the man, who is a farmer and dispossessed him of N980,000 cash, before they now whisked him away alongside one other person from the car into the bush,” he said.
Spokesman of Kaduna police command, DSP Mansur Hassan, neither responded to calls nor replied to messages sent to him on the incident at the time of filing this report.

A statement by the Chief Military Public Information Officer, Lt-Col Abdullahi Abubakar, said the terrorists laid down arms between April 17 and 27, 2024 following offensives launched by troops of Operation Lake Sanity 2, in the Lake Chad Region.

Abubakar said a 19-year-old Boko Haram terrorist, Alhaji Ali, surrendered to troops of 403 Amphibious Brigade (Baga) of Sector 3 in Monguno, Nigeria on April 17, 2024.

According to him, military investigation revealed that the surrendered Boko Haram fighter had three years affiliation with the Buduma faction of the dreaded sect.

He stated that Ali hails from Masarram on Lake Chad Island and resides at Duguri and had operated with the group before growing discontent for it.