No fewer than 44 bandits were said to have been killed in a face-off between two rival bandit groups in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
An indigene of Shinkafi town, Musa Suleiman, told The PUNCH that the fight broke out between the two rival groups near Maniya village of LGA.
One group, according to Suleiman, was led by a notorious leader of the bandits, Bello Turji, and the other group was led by another kingpin called Dullu.
Suleiman said the two groups engaged in a serious fight as a result of the killing of Turji’s relatives who were on their way to Kano for medical treatment.
He maintained that Turji’s relatives were attacked and killed along Shinkafi-Kaura-Namoda road on their way to Kano by the bandits under the leadership of another notorious bandits’ kingpin called Dullu.
Suleiman said, “Turji mobilised his men and moved to Dullu’s camp in Maniya forest to avenge the killing of his relatives.”
He said, “the two warring bandit groups fought for two days between Monday and last Tuesday where scores of bandits were killed and several others sustained injuries.
“We learned that both sides have recorded several casualties and Dullu was killed during the encounter.
“We also got information that Turji lost 16 people while 28 were Killed from Dullu’s camp including Dallu himself.”
According to him, Dallu was caught alive by Turji’s boys and later shot dead.
A farmer, who gave his name as Samaila, said, “We were on our farms on Tuesday when we saw several bandits on motorcycles moving towards the forest.
“As we were about to run for our dear lives, one of the bandits told us that we should not panic.
“A few minutes later, we heard several gunshots in the forest and we realised that Turji’s boys have attacked Dullu’s camp.”
The spokesperson of the state police command, SP Mohammed Shehu, told The PUNCH that he was not in the full picture of the incident.
“I don’t have full details of this incident but I will brief you more when I get to the office later today.”
