Police arrest 23 deadly cattle rustlers arrested, as herdsmen invade Ibadan

– About 23 armed and deadly cattle rustlers have been arrested and paraded by police in Plateau state

– They were paraded on for cattle rustling, unlawful possession of fire arms, and armed robbery

– Some very notorious and highly wanted rustlers were among the 23 paraded

– Ibadan town has been invaded by some brutal herdsmen, robbing residents of their possessions 

Reports by the Plateau state police command, on Wednesday, April 20, paraded 23 suspects for crimes ranging from cattle rustling, unlawful possession of fire arms, armed robbery and gangsterism.

Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the command in Jos, Commissioner of police, Adekunle Oladunjoye, said: “On the 3rd April, 2016, at about 13:10 hours, policemen from Special Anti Robbery Squad, (SARS) on information arrested 5 persons for alleged cattle rustling in Wase LGA of the state.”

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Oladunjoye said: “the suspects’ stock in trade is to rustle cows from their owners in Wase LGA and environs.”

He added that the suspects who included Alhaji Lawal Idris (aka Goma), Mohammadu Yusuf, Musa Abubakar, Buba Ishaku and Idris Yusuf would be charged to court as soon as SCID completed investigation.

Also paraded for unlawful possession of fire arms were seven persons.

The police commissioner gave the names of the suspects as one Sani Salihu, Hussaini Tahir, Mohammadu Usman, Rabiu Adamu, Idris Yusuf, Ibrahim Mohammed and Hassan Abdullahi.

He said the suspects were found in possession of fire arms, which include 504 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition, 3 motorcycles suspected to have been stolen, 4 locally constructed AK 47 butts and 9 mobile phones.

“From the strength of investigation, it is reasonably suspected that the group were conveying the ammunition from Ganawuri axis to unleash terror on innocent persons around Riyom, Barkin Ladi and other places as raining season has set in,” he noted.

Oladunjoye further stated that one Mohammadu Abdullahi in company of Liloh Musa, Abubakar Usman and Musa Audi were arrested by the police who were on routine patrol along Kwande road, in Qua’an Pan LGA of the state, while operating on the highway.

Daily Post reports that another group paraded by the police boss were 7 young men, who through intelligence-led operations were arrested at Jos.

The gangsters were led by one Misbahu Awal (aka Dan Misbah), who was in company of Aminu Isma’l, Sani Umar, Yusuf Mohammed Bello, Abdulrasheed Samaila, Abubakar Mohammed and Abdul Jabar Musa.

READ ALSO: IPOB will be prosecuted over Abia herdsmen killing?

The suspects were in possession of one cutlass, 4 sharp long knives and 2 tricycles.

The gangsters are said to be engaged in an act of gangsterism along the Riverside, behind the new Jos stadium.

“The gangsters popularly known as (Sara Suka), always terrorize innocent people within the locality and sometimes stab their victims to death,” the CP explained.

He advised the citizenry to remain vigilant, security conscious and continue to maintain the strong synergy with security operatives.

Meanwhile, some hoodlums, including herdsmen, on the night of Tuesday, April 19, invaded a farm belonging to a former secretary to the Oyo state government, Mr Ayodele Adigun and forced settlers in the place to flee their residence.

According to sources, the invaders stormed the farm settlement at Lagun, in Lagelu Local Government area of the state around 9pm with dangerous weapons.

Eyewitnesses report that the intruders were not only Fulani herdsmen as some of them reportedly spoke in pidgin English, Fulani and Yoruba.

Vanguard reports that the suspects numbering about 20 were armed with AK-47 rifles and other dangerous weapons.

Two of the residents, Haruna Usman and Olanipekun Ogunkolade said the hoodlums had two sophisticated guns each while robbing them of their valuables.

They said items such as phones, money, shoes and foodstuffs were carted away by the intruders. One of the victims, Mr Jimmy Adedokun who sustained gunshot injuries on his hands and legs was admitted at a hospital in Iwo, Osun State.

Narrating the attack, Ogunkolade said “when they arrived at 9pm yesterday night (Tuesday), they ransacked everywhere and shot Jimmy after dispossessing him of his weapons.

They took garri from us, and drank it. One of us just prepared a fish soup and eba but the invaders ate everything.”

The farm manager, Mr Emmanuel said the incident was the first occurrence since they settled on the farm settlement.

When asked who the suspects could be, he said, “we suspected that the invaders are Fulani herdsmen because they wore shoes like herdsmen and they spoke Fulani and pidgin English.

“Earlier in the day, they had mounted roadblocks at Lagun on Ibadan – Iwo Road. We learnt that they robbed the road users early in the morning and at night.

“We sighted over 50 Fulani herdsmen moving from one community to another in this place on the grounds that they wanted to buy Indian hemp.”

The owner of the farm, Mr Adigun said residents of the settlement had run for dear life and had relocated to another place noting that “to me, the invasion of the farm was a ploy to permanently sack the farmers from the community so that they could take over and use the farm as grazing field.”

In the same vein, some Fulani herdsmen reportedly engaged a joint team of the Nigerian army and mobile police force personnel in Agatu, Benue state in a gun duel, kidnapping a police man in a process.

According to Daily Post, the police officer, Corporal Ebiakpo Akparakazi, was reported missing during the attack.

The Benue state police spokesman, ASP Moses Yamu, who confirmed the incident, said that search teams have been sent out to find the missing officer.

There have been many troubling reports regarding the activities of herdsmen in the country. Recently, about 92 herdsmen were arrested in Abuja by soldiers of the Guards Brigade of the Nigeria Army.

According to the assistant director, army public relations of the Guards Brigade, Captain Bashir Jajira, 36 of the suspects were arrested by the troops at a military checkpoint between the Federal Capital Territory and Nasarawa state.

The suspected herdsmen were said to have told the soldiers that they were on a mission to recover their stolen cows.

Captain Jajira noted that 56 other herdsmen who were also armed were arrested by the soldiers at a military checkpoint at Dantata, along the Abuja Airport Road.

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