Bandit Leader Bello Turji Releases Over 100 Hostages in Renewed Zamfara Peace Effort

In a fresh bid to restore peace and stability across Nigeria’s troubled North West, notorious bandit leader Bello Turji has reportedly freed more than 100 hostages following a new peace initiative in Zamfara State.

The freed captives including men, women, and children were said to have been held for several months in various forest camps controlled by Turji’s faction.

According to multiple sources, the mass release was the result of renewed peace talks and confidence-building efforts led by community elders, Islamic clerics, and traditional rulers in collaboration with the North West Operation Safe Corridor project.

Security analyst and counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama confirmed the development on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, explaining that the freed hostages were handed over to local officials. The authorities, he said, immediately arranged medical checkups and psychological evaluations before reuniting the victims with their families.

A source involved in the negotiations disclosed that the development formed part of a wider peace deal between Turji’s group and local mediators, under which the bandit leader pledged to halt attacks and support reconciliation efforts in Zamfara and neighboring states.

“Thirty-six captives were initially freed, followed by another eight, bringing the number to forty-six. The rest were later released, raising the total to more than one hundred,” the source said, adding that further releases are expected as talks continue.

Authorities are said to be maintaining tight surveillance to ensure that the ongoing peace process remains authentic and that criminal groups do not exploit it to regroup or rearm.

Bello Turji has for years been one of the most feared figures in Nigeria’s banditry crisis, accused of orchestrating numerous mass kidnappings, village raids, and highway ambushes across Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina States.