Gombe State Police Arrests Suspected Cattle Rustlers
Rebecca Mu’azu, Gombe
The Gombe State Police Command has arrested 18 suspected cattle rustlers and
intercepted 483 cattle by Kalmar Junction in Billiri Local Government Area of the state.
The Police said its tactical teams in collaboration with vigilante groups and local hunters, mobilized and trailed the rustlers to where they were, but that the suspects fled when they sighted them.
It said some of the suspects fled in disarray on their motor bikes and abandoned the rustled cattle.
The Gombe State Police said during a search of their luggages, recovered two AK-47 rifles, one AK-49 rifle, 320 rounds of live ammunition, 14 empty magazine and three cutlasses.
Other items also recovered are 186 sheep and ram, three donkeys, two Bajaj Boxers motorcycles, two Honda motorcycles, seven Tecno Handsets, one Max phone, one Foxkong phone, and the sum of 994 thousand naira.
It said the successes were recorded based on credible intelligence that suspected cattle rustlers had rustled over 500 cows from Plateau, Bauchi and Taraba States, in large numbers and that they were heading towards Gombe through the Bauchi axis.
The Gombe State Police Command said the rustled animals were under the custody of the Divisional Police Officer in Billiri, pending the completion of investigations before releasing them to their owners, who had already started coming to identify their cows.
It said, however, that the case had been transferred to the State CID for discreet investigations and prosecution.
The Gombe State Police Commissioner Mr. Ishola Babatunde Babaita reassured the public in Gombe State that the Command, under his watch, would relentlessly continue to pursue the criminals from all nooks and crannies of the State and never give them room to hibernate.
