FOR years, northern Nigeria has been gripped by a wave of armed violence that has left hundreds dead, thousands displaced, and entire communities in fear.
In Zamfara state, one name has stood out among the most notorious perpetrators; Bello Turji, a 31-year-old former herder turned criminal kingpin.
Turji, accused of mass killings, kidnappings, cattle theft, and extortion, has now entered into yet another peace agreement with the government.
The deal, reached last month, is intended to bring calm to Shinkafi district, a region long plagued by bandit attacks.
According to a conflict monitoring report for the United Nations sighted by News Point Nigeria, the truce followed three meetings between Turji and a delegation of Muslim clerics led by renowned scholar, Musa Yusuf Asadus-Sunnah.
The talks took place in Turji’s Fakai village stronghold before he reportedly fled to Jigawa state to evade a military raid.
Under the agreement, Turji and four other bandit leaders pledged to halt deadly raids, kidnappings, and cattle theft.
In exchange, local vigilantes would stop targeting bandit herders, Turji’s ethnic kinsmen. The bandit leader also released 32 hostages and handed over some weapons.
The accord has already had visible effects. Farmers have begun returning to their fields, even those in forests near Turji’s former hideouts.
Asadus-Sunnah says no attacks have been recorded in the area since the talks.
But in a state where peace deals have repeatedly collapsed, skepticism runs deep. “Only military force can stop them,” said local resident, Hamisu Aliyu, who insists attacks still happen despite the truce.
Turji has signed several peace deals in the past, each followed by renewed violence.
Some security analysts who spoke to News Point Nigeria warn the latest agreement may be no different.
Security expert, Mannir Fura-Girke argues that Turji’s willingness to negotiate often coincides with military pressure.
“He is only using peace deals as a survival strategy, staying quiet until the heat subsides,” Fura-Girke said.
This deal came shortly after local vigilantes and anti-bandit militias killed several of Turji’s fighters in a major offensive.
Banditry in Nigeria’s northwest is rooted in farmer-herder conflicts worsened by climate change, economic hardship, and government neglect.
Fulani communities have been both victims and perpetrators of violence facing cattle rustling by rival gangs and reprisal attacks from affected villages.
Despite intermittent truces, the bandit economy fuelled by ransom payments, livestock theft, and illegal taxation remains too profitable for gangs to abandon.
Even when attacks stop in one district, they often spike in another.
As Fura-Girke puts it: “Banditry has become a huge moneymaker for these criminal gangs. It is too lucrative for them to stop, no matter how many peace deals they sign.”
For now, residents of Shinkafi enjoy a fragile calm. But in Zamfara, history suggests it may only be a matter of time before the guns roar again.