Did terror kingpin foresee own death? How Halilu Sububu preached peace in last video

A video released last Tuesday by Halilu Sububu, the terrorism kingpin later killed by Nigerian soldiers in an ambush the same day, indicates he had a premonition of his own death.

In the video, the now-deceased terrorist urged the leading terrorists operating in the Northwest states and North Central Niger State to embrace peace and restraint.

Mr Sububu was killed in the Kuzawa and Mayanchi areas along the Gusau-Sokoto highway in the Maru Local Government area of Zamfara State two days after he recorded the video. Sources said he was killed alongside some of his footsoldiers as they crossed the highway en route to the Bagega forest, where he had his enclave.

Mr Sububu was among 43 persons in the Northwest region the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) declared wanted for terrorism in March. The others include Alhaji Shingi, Malindi Yakubu, Boka, Dogo Gide, Ado Aliero, Bello Turji, Dan Bokkolo, Labi Yadi, Nagala, Saidu Idris, Sani Gurgu, and Kachalla Rugga.

One of the wanted terrorists, Mr Rugga, born Usman Idris, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper in August 2021, explained why he set a condition for peace in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State after security agents burnt his residence and arrested his wives.

Halilu Sububu’s video

In the about six minutes video recorded in Hausa, Mr Sububu urged his fellow terrorism kingpins in the areas – Mr Gide and Bello Turji, among others – to stop attacking the Fulanis and communities that did not threaten their criminal enterprises.

“I am calling on you to fight for the rights of our people for the sake of brotherhood; let us stop killing and stealing from our people. Stop killing and stealing from the Fulanis in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Kaduna and Kebbi states.

“I am Kachallah Halilu Sububu, the godfather of Bello Turji. In this video I release on Tuesday, I plead with you to please stop stealing from the Fulanis and any town that is not fighting us and be obedient to God. Let us re-strategise.

“This is my position; I am waiting for the response of Alhaji Ado (Aleiro), Alhaji Nashama, Alhaji Shingi, Dogo Gide, Gwaska, and Black”, he said in the video, citing countries where the Fulanis are united.

In the video, Mr Sububu, surrounded by gun-totting terrorists, some of them underaged children, lamented that military operations had killed several gang leaders and their footsoldiers.

He encouraged the terrorists to engage the government in a peace dialogue, warning them about the uncertainty of their living, that tomorrow they may be killed while the future of the younger generation remains at risk.

“Things are happening; they are finishing (killing) us, and if it continues like this, what will happen to the young generation? Today, it may be you and tomorrow, another person. This is the truth and the reason I release this video.

“I am saying this – even if at last the proposed peace dialogue between us and the government fails, let us refrain from attacking the Fulanis for peace to reign. I am calling on the clerics to use their pulpits to pray for peace and dialogue because the government cannot do this; no amount of soldiers, either from Russia, Ukraine, or America, can stop this.

“We, the leaders, if we agree on this, there would be peace, and any of our footsoldiers who cannot key into this, let’s seize the gun from him and let him go,” he said in the video.

“I am waiting for your response via a group chat; let’s sit down and agree on this,” he concluded.

Wealthy terrorist with a diverse mindset

It is not yet clear how the other gang leaders responded to Mr Sububu’s counsel before his death.

However, Mr Gide, who fled to Magami forest in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara after soldiers raided his former Babban Doka hideout in Dansadau Emirate in March, had also called against attacks on peasant communities.

Mr Sububu, unlike his protege, Mr Turji, who is inconsistent on the issue, had moved on from cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom to gunrunning and illegal gold mining.

Mr Sububu is believed to be the mastermind of the September 2021 deadly attack on a security formation at Dama, a village in Sabon Birni, Sokoto State, which killed nine soldiers, five mobile police officers and three officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Since Mr Turji rose to notoriety, Mr Sububu focused on gunrunning and amassed illicit wealth. He was believed to be the wealthiest among the terrorists, with large herds of cows, some of which are concealed in Ilorin, Kwara State, and Oyo State for safekeeping.

A PREMIUM TIMES Investigation last December exposed how Mr Sububu diversified into illegal gold mining operations in the solid mineral-rich Bagega and other communities around Sumke forest in the Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

His close ties with French-speaking Jihadists in the Sahel region of West Africa (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Senegal) enhanced his gunrunning and gold mining businesses.

Mr Sububu once referred to himself as the “Leader of the terrorists operating on the northern flank.” He said so because he supplied basic logistics to the terrorists in the regions.

He is believed to supply weapons to terrorists operating in Maradun, Shinkafi, Kaura Namoda, Zurmi, Bakura, Isa, and Sabon Birni in the Nigerian North-west region.

He initiated Turji, Lauwali Dodo, Ali Dan Oga, Chimo, Kwashen Garwa, and Haru, among others, into terrorism. He stockpiled weapons, motorcycles, and other valuables in his houses, especially in Sububu and Rudani.

‘Son of a thief who became a thief’

Mr Sububu was born in the late 1980s as Halilu Jammare. His father, a Fulani herder, Jammare, was born in Jajjaye, a community near Sububu. Mr Sububu’s mother crossed from the Niger Republic into Nigeria with her grandfather through Maradi in the Niger Republic.

Mr Sububu’s father died 25 years ago, according to local sources. “His father abandoned herding and allegedly became a robber. His father was a friend of a notorious thief in the area, Ma’a Jamamare. So, we were not surprised when Halilu became a bandit,” a local source told PREMIUM TIMES.