Stakeholders from the troubled eastern senatorial district of Sokoto State have called on the government and security agencies to come to the aid of the Tidibale and other communities sacked by the activities of a notorious bandit, leader Bello Turji.

Secretary of the Sokoto Eastern Zone Development Association, Muazu Shamaki, confirmed that the recent video circulating on social media, where members of Tidibale are seen vacating their communities following an alleged threat from Bello Turji, was a trend that had subjected residents to untold hardship.

Shamaki said over 20 settlements had been affected by this trend.

He noted that residents were hoping security agencies would help in pushing back the terrorists so that they could return to their ancestral homes.

Also speaking on the matter, Malam Bashar Guyawa-Isa said some of the affected members of the community were now taking refuge in some communities in the Niger Republic.

He also appealed for timely intervention to salvage the situation, as many communities have been deserted.

There is fear among residents of different communities in the state over threats of attack by Turji and his group.

The situation has forced many of the residents to flee their homes in search of safety.

Unconfirmed videos on social media showed some residents fleeing in overloaded vehicles.

US Strikes

There have also been reports of bandits fleeing to other parts of the country after the bombardment of terrorists’ camps in Sokoto by the US government in December, 2025.

This screen grab from a video posted by the US Department of Defence on their X account on December 25, 2025, shows a missile launch from a naval vessel as President Donald Trump says US forces conducted “powerful and deadly” strikes against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria on December 25, 2025, weeks after he warned against any systemic assault on Christians in the country.

The United States on Friday confirmed that its strikes against jihadist groups in northern Nigeria were launched with the west African country’s approval.

The Federal Government had revealed that a total of 16 GPS-guided precision munitions were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms in a joint Nigeria–United States operation that targeted Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves in Sokoto State.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who revealed this in a statement, explained that during the course of the operation, debris from expended munitions fell in Jabo, Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto State, and in Offa, Kwara State, near the premises of a hotel.

He, however, added that “no civilian casualties” were recorded in either location, and relevant authorities promptly secured the affected areas.

Idris said that the strikes, conducted between 00:12 hours and 01:30 hours on Friday, December 26, 2025, were authorised by President Bola Tinubu.

“Now that the US is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the President emphasised yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other,” the minister said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. (Channels TV)

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