Terrorist kingpin Turji in panic state — CDS

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has said that wanted terrorist kingpin, Bello Turji, is in a state of panic following the renewed military onslaught on terrorists in the North West.

Musa said this in an interview on the sideline of NAN’s maiden Annual International Lecture on Thursday in Abuja.

The CDS explained that the killing of Halilu Buzu and many other terrorist commanders had sent panic to the camp of Turji and his gang, adding that his latest actions were signs of panic.

“You can see from the action that he is taking, you will know that he is in a state of panic.

“He used to be emboldened to go and talk and talk as if he is the only one in charge.

“Now he knows he is not in charge. He knows it is a matter of time because Halilu Buzu that was killed was his master.

“So now that he knows his commander is gone, he knows he is next and so all that he is doing now is mere noise-making,” he said.

The CDS said that the terrorist kingpin had already crossed the line.

He said that while the military operations would continue, many of the terrorists would continue to go down.

According to him, insecurity is dragging for long because of poverty, illiteracy and lack of good governance within those general areas. “So they have a large population of youths not doing anything.

“The more we take them out, more are joining them and then you remember, we have 1,500 kilometers border with Niger Republic.

“We have another border with Benin Republic and so a lot of people filter in and out within Nigeria.

“So efforts are being made to ensure that we secure those borders to deny them the ability to move in,” he said.