Aminu Garba, chairman of the Cattle Breeders Association, revealed that this was not the first such incident, recalling a similar raid four years earlier. He explained that the stolen animals had been gathered from various markets, including some brought in from Niger Republic, before being loaded for transport to Lagos.
Eyewitnesses reported the bandits numbered between 50 and 100, armed with advanced weaponry. Alhaji Sani Yaba Ajiyan Fawa, one of the affected herders, noted that about 60 cattle were later recovered after scattering during the chaos.
Criticism was directed at security forces stationed nearby, who reportedly failed to respond in time. Garba also blamed insufficient vigilance among market guards for the delayed alert. Many of the stolen cattle were communally owned, with some animals shared by multiple individuals. Efforts are now underway to recover the remaining livestock through local tracking methods.
(Source: Daily Trust)
