Nigerian soldiers
Current report reveal the list of about 30 people who were arrested by the Nigerian
military for allegedly helping the Boko Haram to sell rustled cows, has
been revealed.
The list which was excusively obtained by Premium Times, shows that
the arrested people include at least four serving soldiers, two police
officers, and some members of the civilian-JTF
The Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, Lucky Irabor,
had confirmed the arrest of the 30 people at a press conference in
Maiduguri on Wednesday.
According to General Irabor, “those who have been aiding and
abetting Boko Haram by way of encouraging cattle rustling ; so far we
have arrested 30 of them, many are civilians and we have among them four
soldiers and two policemen. They are being investigated and the outcome
of the investigation will be brought to your notice.”
What Mr. Irabor, a major general, did not say was that the Boko
Haram rustled the cows in the territory they still hold and sneaked them
into Maiduguri, the Borno capital, to sell and buy other goods.
The military has since suspected that the insurgents are able to do
this and raise fund for their cause based on the active connivance of
security operatives and relevant civilians. Subsequent investigation led
to the arrest of the 30 people.
The four soldiers arrested include Captain A. A. Hussaini, the
operations officer of 195 Battalion in charge of Mafa Local Government
Area where Boko Haram still control some areas. The council is a major
route into Maiduguri from the North and East.
Another suspect is Lieutenant I. H. Irro, a liaison with 152 Task
Force battalion. The other two junior officers are Staff Sergeant
Alexander Chiegwe, the guard commander of the main check point from Mafa
into Maiduguri, and Lance Corporal Yakpon Dona.
The policemen arrested are Usman Mohammed and Stephen Odoh.
The suspects also include three members of the Civilian-JTF. They
are Babakkura Ali, chairman of Kasuwan Shanu branch; Bashir Abbas, the
chairman of Sector 2 and Modu 2Star, a member from Mafa town.
The arrested civilians include members of the Livestock Traders
Association, some herdsmen and a representative of the Shehu of Borno.
All the suspects are accused of being involved in castle rustling.
Top members of the Civilian-JTF who spoke to Premium Times
confirmed the arrest of their colleagues. They, however, said they do
not have the full details of their arrest.
In the past year, kidnapping and cattle rustling have become
another major security threat, aside Boko Haram insurgency which the
Nigerian Army has been tackling.
Nearly a hundred kidnappers and cattle rustlers were either killed
in shootouts or arrested by soldiers. Over a thousand cows rustled from
herdsmen were also recovered.
Fulani herdsmen, accused of attacking communities using assault
rifles, have complained that some of them resort to using guns like AK47
to defend themselves because cattle rustlers use similar weapons to
attack them and steal their livestock.
The rustling of cattle has since become a major source of revenue
for the Boko Haram whose activities since 2009 have caused the death of
over 20,000 people and displaced millions of others.
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