No fewer than 44 bandits were said to have been killed in a face-off between two rival bandits’ groups in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
An indigene of Shinkafi town, Musa Suleiman, told The PUNCH on Wednesday that the fight broke out between the two rival groups near Maniya village.
One group, according to Suleiman, was led by Bello Turji, while the other group was led by another bandits’ kingpin called Dullu.
Suleiman said the two groups engaged in a fight as a result of the killings of Turji’s relatives who were on their way to Kano for medical treatment.
He said Turji’s relatives were attacked and killed along Shinkafi-Kaura-Namoda Road on their way to Kano.
“Turji mobilised his men and moved to Dullu’s camp in Maniya Forest to avenge the killing of his relatives,” Suleiman said.
He added that the two warring groups fought for two days between Monday and Tuesday where scores of bandits were killed and several others sustained injuries.
“We learnt that both sides 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 Dullu himself,” he added.
A farmer, who gave his name as Sama,ila 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.
“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 did not have a full picture of the incident when he was contacted earlier.
Copyright PUNCH.
