The leader of a notorious bandit group, Kachalla Baleri, has reportedly been apprehended. The armed bandit was captured on Tuesday, May 28, by Niger Republic’s troops of Operation Faraoutar Bushiya at Rouga Kowa Gwani in the Guidan-Roumdji department.
PRNigeria reports that Baleri, originally from Shinkafi in Zamfara State, had escaped from Nigeria. He was notorious for terrorizing residents in the North-West regions of Zamfara and Sokoto, as well as the Maradi region in Niger Republic, according to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake-Chad area, who disclosed this in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
Baleri, who was among the terrorists declared wanted by the Nigerian government, has been responsible for large-scale killings, abductions, and imposing levies on communities in the North-West. He was known as the right-hand man of Kachalla Bello Turji, a bandit kingpin, and was ranked the 40th most wanted person in Nigeria by the Nigerian Army.
According to Colonel Mohamed Almoctar Seydou Niandou, chief of the tactical staff of Operation Faraoutar Bushiya, Baleri was apprehended at about 1 pm during a clearance operation 10km east of Tankama. He was reportedly meeting with his men and planning attacks to be carried out in Nigeria and Niger Republic when he was nabbed.
At the presentation ceremony of the criminals, the Governor of the region, CGP Issoufou Mamane, and the Prosecutor of the Republic, Adamou Abdou Adam, praised the professionalism and commitment of the SDFs deployed on the group. They stated that the arrest marks a significant achievement in the fight against banditry and terrorism in the region, Makama added.