BEVERLY HILLS, August 21, (THEWILL) – Police in Katsina State says they have arrested fake Nigerian Immigration Service personnel, Abubakar Shafi’u and five other suspects with 164 allegedly stolen cattle conveyed in three trucks.
Spokesman of the command, SP Gambo Isah while parading the suspects and the recovered cattle before newsmen said, they were intercepted at Jibia based on credible information at the disposal of the joint patrol team of the Nigerian customs service and the police around the axis.
Isah while explaining the circumstances that led to their suspicion said, the 3 truck load of cattle were being moved from Zurmi area Council of Zamfara state to Buniyadi in Yobe state. He added that in the course of investigation, the documents allegedly displayed by the suspects indicated about 120 cattle while Isah said, the actual number of cattle counted in the 3 trucks were 164, this further led to the suspicion that it could be a clear case of rustled cattle.
”we all know so many cows have been rustled in Katsina and Zamfara States, and precisely, we know that Zurmi is a hideout of so many criminals. We are not relenting, we are going to investigate the sources of these cows and ensure that anyone of the suspects found guilty is taken to court for prosecution,” he said.
Speaking on his involvement in the issue, Abubakar Shafi’u said he is a staff of the Immigration service attached to the procurement department at the headquarters, in Abuja and on annual leave denying that the cattle are rustled.
According to him, he was called by the elders in his home town Zurmi Area Council of Zamfara state as a son of the soil to come escort his relatives; Mohammad Isah, Ibrahim Mohammed, Idris Mohammad, Usman Mohammed and Saidu Lawal to convey their cattle to Potiskum and Buni Yadi in Yobe state as a result of banditry in the area.
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On the discrepancies in the number of cattle quoted in the documents, Shafi’u attributed it to the fear of his relatives packing all their cattle into the trucks during the evacuation.
Isah who said as at the time of interrogation, Shafi’u had no means of identification stressed that investigation is still ongoing.
