Reports of My Death or Capture Are False – Top Bandit Commander, Baleri Declares in a Video

One of the notorious bandit commanders terrorizing the Northwest region of Nigeria, Kachalla Baleri, has boldly refuted the reports that he was captured and killed by security operatives.

The latest development has raised concerns in the North after a video of the bandit kingpin surfaced on the internet.

In the video shared on X by popular security analyst and counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, a notorious bandits leader, Bello Turji, dismissed reports by the Nigerian authority that one of his top commanders, Baleri, has been neutralized.

He mocked the Nigerian authority, making a video record while he pushed Baleri forward to testify that he was alive, hale and hearty.

Turji noted that it was important to address the supposed arrest of Baleri by Niger Republic troops during Operation Faraoutar Bushiya on May 28.

Challenging the authorities, Turji said: “You claimed you killed Baleri or captured him. This is Baleri. Here he is if you want to apprehend him.”

Colonel Mohamed Almoctar Seydou Niandou, the chief of the tactical staff of Operation Faraoutar Bushiya, made the initial report of Baleri’s capture.

Niandou had claimed that Baleri was apprehended around 1 pm, approximately 10 km east of Tankama, while he was meeting with his men and planning attacks in Nigeria and Niger.

Turji and Baleri, however, have dismissed these claims.