Bandits Steal 600 Sallah Rams, Cows In Zamfara

Reports just coming in indicate that no fewer than 600 rams and cows were carted away by armed bandits in Billashe village in Birnin Magaji Local Government Area of Zamfara State on Thursday, 2 October, 2014.

Daily Trust reports that residents of the village informed that the incident occurred in the night, lamenting that the incident will prevent many of them from slaughtering rams during the Eid-el-Kabir festival holding today, Saturday, 4 October, 2014.

It was gathered that the bandits carried out the robbery operation on a house-to-house basis.

A source stated that some residents of the affected villages went after the bandits and recovered their animals.

“You know Eid el-Kabir is approaching and it is a tradition for families in rural Zamfara to rear rams and other domestic animals for sacrifice and sale, but the bandits have disrupted the plans by their action.

Some residents of the village fled the area for safety and I accommodated two of them in my house,” a resident told newsmen.

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While confirming the incident, the spokesman of Zamfara state police command, Lawan Abdullahi, informed that they were working with other security outfits to recover the stolen animals.

Abdullahi added that cattle rustling still exists in the area because of the difficult terrain in most areas in the state, saying most of the villages are inaccessible due to bad roads and poor telephone networks.

He, however, added that between June and August this year, the command in collaboration with the military was able to recover 2,219 stolen cows.

The police boss informed that the Divisional Police Officer attached to the local government and a suspected cattle rustler escaped lynching by a mob in Nassarawa Godel village  earlier in the week.