Cattle rustlers kill herdsman, push corpse into lagoon

Gunmen suspected to be cattle rustlers have gruesomely murdered a Fulani herdsman while resisting attempt to steal two of his cows around Emu-Ebendo community, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta state.

The incident which occurred on Friday last week reportedly sparked apprehension between herdsmen and residents of the area following the discovery of the corpse pegged to a wood in a shallow river to prevent it from floating until it had discomposed.

A security source who was among the rescue team who recovered the remains of the herdsman from the river identified the victim as Haruna Mohammed, adding that security has been drafted to the area to prevent reprisal attacks from the Fulani community in the state.


Our correspondent learnt that the rustlers shot the herdsman repeatedly before being thrown into the river and the suspects thereafter shot and slaughtered two cows belonging to the victim at an uncompleted petrol station in the community.

According to the source, “The herdsman was attacked on Friday evening by the rustlers while trying to steal his cows when he resisted them. They were two herdsmen that went for the grazing, but one of them went to buy food inside the community before he returned his colleague had been killed.

“It took us two days before we could discover the corpse tied to a heavy wood inside the river. We traced spill of his blood to the river bank after his colleagues waited for his return on Friday. The next day (Saturday) his colleague reported at the police station at Abbi that he was missing.”

The remains of Mohammed was buried at the Ogwashi-Uku Cemetery on Sunday morning according to religious rites after his corpse was discovered by the rescuing team comprising operatives of the Delta State Police Command, State Security Service and local vigilante groups.

The State’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the killing when contacted on Monday, appealing to the herdsmen community not to carry out any form of reprisal attack as the suspects had not been unraveled.