Operatives of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have arrested a 40-year-old Fulani cattle herder, Ruwa Mojuba, in Kura village, in the Kaiama local gvernment area of Kwara state for allegedly stealing 17 cows valued at N2.5m.
Mojuba was alleged to have stolen the cows, put in his care at Budo Alhaji village, Oyo state, in September 2021.
NSCDC operatives, however, arrested the suspect with 14 of the cows.
The agency’s Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, said, “In September 2021, one Umar Abubakar of Budo Alhaji village, Oyo state, employed the suspect, Ruwa Mojuba, to tend his herd of cattle for him. The suspect was to tend the cattle for seven months on a monthly salary of N10,000.
“But the suspect reared the cattle for only one month and ran away with 17 of the cows. He relocated with the rustled cows to Kura village in Kaiama LGA of Kwara state.
“The matter was first reported by the owner of the cows at our divisional office in Igbaja before it was transferred to the intelligence and investigations department at the state command, where painstaking investigations were carried out after the arrest of the suspect.
“Findings revealed that the suspect sold three of the stolen cows valued at N600,000, while the remaining 14 cows were recovered from him”, he added.
Meanwhile, Afolabi has disclosed that the corps had concluded investigations into the matter, adding that the suspect would soon be charged to court.