Nigeria: Fake Membership Card Used to Falsely Claim Bandit Leader Bello Turji Is a Registered Member of Nigeria's Ruling Party

29 January 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Muktar Balogun

Fake membership card used to falsely claim bandit leader Bello Turji is a registered member of Nigeria's ruling party

IN SHORT: An image circulating online appears to be the membership card of Nigeria's bandit group leader Bello Turji, allegedly proving that he is a registered member of the ruling All Progressives Congress. But the party says the card is fake.

Several Facebook posts claim that Bello Turji, a notorious bandit leader in Nigeria, has registered as a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party.

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Part of one post, dated 27 January 2026, reads: "The most wanted bandit in Nigeria Bello Turji has registered as a member of APC in Shinkafi LGA of Zamfara State."

As evidence, the post features what it claims to be Turji's APC membership card.

The term bandits is used in Nigeria to describe armed criminal groups involved in illegal activities.

Shinkafi is a local government area in Zamfara state, northwest Nigeria.

Turji is a Nigerian bandit group leader and terror figure active mainly in the country's northwestern region. His group has been linked to mass killings, kidnappings, and other criminal activities. In February 2025, Turji reportedly imposed a N25 million (about US$17,800) levy on villages in parts of Sokoto state.

Nigerian security forces have repeatedly said they were tracking him to neutralise his network. There is public debate and controversy in Nigeria about whether politicians have sponsored Turji, but these allegations remain largely unproven. Turji has denied these sponsorship claims.

The same claim was found here, here, here and here.

But is it true that Turji has an APC membership card? We checked.

Fake card

There is no credible evidence that Turji is a registered APC member, and several features of the circulating card suggest that it is not authentic.

At first glance, the card's design matches that of official APC membership cards issued during registration. But a closer look shows that the image in question may have been edited. The registration date on the circulating card has different fonts and font sizes, and parts of it appear bolded.

In addition, the photo on the card does not appear to be a standard party registration photo. It seems to be a low-quality, cropped image of Turji in his usual outfit, with a gun behind him, most likely culled from the internet. APC registration photos are usually taken at ward centres in neutral settings.

The party's spokesperson in Zamfara, Yusuf Idris, has dismissed it as fake, describing the forgery as a mischievous attempt to spoil the party's name.

He said: "This was carried out by mischievous elements who are not happy with the smooth, successful and coordinated manner in which the ongoing e-registration of members is going on in the state."

According to Idris, membership numbers in Zamfara state begin with "APC36", not "APC26" as seen in the circulating image.

The claim that Turji is a registered member of the APC is false, and the "card" used to support it is fake.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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