Police outgun rustlers at Bwari, recover 201 cows
Men of the FCT Police Command attached to Bwari division, Tuesday, raided a cattle rustlers’ hideout at Kawu grazing reserve and recovered 201 stolen cows.
A source in the locality said the recovery followed an intense gun battle with the rustlers by the police.
City News learnt that the Kawu grazing reserve, located some kilometres away from Bwari town, now has its portion being used as a den by the rustlers.
One of the owners of the recovered cows, Haruna Ibrahim, who is currently receiving treatment at the Kubwa General Hospital after some rustlers attacked their camp, told our reporter that the police raid came a day after cows were rustled at their camp in Barangoni in the outskirts of Bwari town on Sunday.
He said the gunmen, who were about 15 in number, stormed their settlement around 10p.m. on Sunday and ordered them to come out from their tents before they drove the cows away.
Another herder, Adamu Saleh, who lives away from the camp where the incident happened, said they became suspicious when the cattle rustlers got to their area while escaping with the stolen cows.
“Few minutes thereafter, our brothers from the affected area informed us about the incident, and together we trailed them to know exactly where they were heading to because we could not confront them,’’ the herder said.
He added that they followed them up to Zuma where the gunmen divided themselves into three groups, two followed different directions with the cows, while the third group hid at that point, apparently to ambush anyone that attempts to trail them.
Saleh said as they approached the spot, the gunmen fired at their direction and injured one of them, which ultimately forced them to give up and take the victim back for attention.
Speaking on the raid, the spokesman of the FCT Police Command, Anjuguri Manzah, an Assistant Superintended, confirmed the incident.
He said on getting the information, police at the Bwari division stormed the Kawu grazing reserve and engaged the gunmen in a shootout, adding that some of the gunmen escaped with gun injuries during the operation.
He said all the recovered cows have been handed over to the owners.