Livestock Guards arrest father-and-son cattle rustlers, underage herder in Benue

Livestock Guards have arrested a man and his son in Benue for rustling six cattle at his farm in Gbajimgba in Guma council area of the state.

Atsagba Ukua’ son is said to have aided his father rustle cattle and an underage herder openly grazing 60 cattle in contrast with the state’s law.

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Special Adviser on Security Matters, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba (rtd), who paraded the suspected offenders on Saturday in Makurdi, noted that in the last few days, the Livestock Guards’ arrested a young man and his son with six rustled cows.

“When our men accosted him, he claimed that the cattle were arrested from his farm. He said some cattle came and destroyed his farm and he was taking them to Gbajimba to go and sell. The man was arrested in Gbajimba along with his son and was heading to cattle market to sell the rustled cows.

“We didn’t take his claim to be authentic so we are treating him as a cattle rustler. He will be handed over to the police for prosecution. That is why Ortom earlier advocated for ranching because if cattle are ranched, rustling and banditry would be eliminated,” he said.

Corroborating the special adviser in an interview, the suspected cattle rustler, Atsagba Ukua, said he is a poor man and that last year, herders came to his farm with their cattle and ate up all his crops.

He narrated that he seized six sheep last year and handed it to soldiers but he didn’t hear anything about it and he didn’t get any compensation, adding that it was why this year, when he arrested six cows, he decided to take them to sell to settle his bills after the animals ate up his rice farm this year.

Earlier, the special adviser informed that the boy, Quackman Yayi, was arrested for flouting the open grazing prohibition law because he is underaged and was found alone in the bush grazing 60 cows, stressing that the child was exposed to all kinds of hazards and stands no chance to confront rustlers just as he should be in school at his age.

Yayi, on his part, told journalists that he was caught while doing open grazing around Yelwata with his 60 cattle belonging to one Alhaji Yakubu.