The joint military campaign against armed bandits in the Birnin Gwari forest, Kaduna State yesterday started yielding results with arrest of nine suspected cattle thieves and recovery of 728 cows.
Livestock theft has become common in the area with hundreds of herds stolen and dozens of herders killed. The rustlers were suspected of kidnapping girls and converting them to sex slaves in their hideouts in the forest.
Governors of Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger and Zanfara States sharing boundaries with the forest had recently agreed to dispatch a team of joint security agents within their territories to tackle the menace.
Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna yesterday inspected the operatives in Birnin Gwari and Damari towns, where hundreds of cows were recovered and nine suspects arrested.
The governor said the security operation which commenced a couple of days ago in five states led to the arrest of some bandits.
He said “So far so good, we are very proud of the work done by the Nigerian armed forces in trying to contain this problem. It has lingered for too long and finally it is being addressed. This is a joint operation by the security forces being conducted in five states that have this forest concurrently. This is just the Kaduna State end and we have recovered 728 heads of cattle, 127 sheep and a donkey. A few arrests have been made and some of the bandits who exchanged fire with the forces were killed.”
Daily Trust gathered that the suspects have not been charged with any offence yet.