A security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, has debunked rumours that notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, has been killed.
The rumour broke on Wednesday night when a post was shared on social media that the deadly bandit kingpin was killed in a fierce gun battle with the military at a forest in Katsina State where he had relocated to from his base in Zamfara State.
The news quickly gathered traction, and became viral with many mainstream media platforms picking it up and reporting it as true.
But in a post on his X handle @ZagazOlaMakama on Wednesday night, the security expert said the reports are unsubstantiated as there was no verifiable evidence to show that Turji has been killed as there was no known military operation in the location where the renegade was said to have been killed.
Captioning the post “Fact Check: No Verifiable Evidence of Bello Turji’s Death in Safana Forest,” Makama said:
“Reports circulated by an international medium, claimed that notorious bandit leader Bello Turji has been killed in a military operation in Safana Forest, Katsina State.
“However, these reports are unsubstantiated and lack credible evidence to confirm the claims.
“There was no Military Operations or any Clash with Bello Turji’s gang within the SAFANA forest and other areas of northwest,” he wrote.