How Swift Security Response Foiled Fulani Rustlers’ Plot in Abia – Gov’s Security Aide

  Three Fulani cattle rustlers were apprehended on Monday in the Ohiya community, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, followi...

 

Three Fulani cattle rustlers were apprehended on Monday in the Ohiya community, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, following a timely intervention by Operation Crush, a special security outfit created to combat crime in the state.

The arrest, which came after a tip-off, prevented what officials say could have sparked a violent confrontation between Fulani herders and the host community.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Navy Commander Macdonald Uba (retd.), while addressing journalists in Umuahia, praised the swift response of the operatives.

“We all know what would have happened if those cattle had been rustled and the crisis it would have triggered in Ohiya,” Uba said.
“Abia State, under the leadership of Governor Alex Otti, will not yield an inch to criminals who seek to make life unbearable for our people.”

He disclosed that the suspects had planned to steal the cattle from their fellow Fulani herdsmen and shift the blame to the Ohiya community to incite ethnic tension.

“If not for the intervention of Operation Crush, their plan was to rustle the cattle from their fellow Fulani herdsmen and make it seem as though the Ohiya community was responsible,” he explained.

Uba also revealed that investigations were ongoing and that authorities were tracking down individuals suspected of collaborating with the rustlers.

“We have credible intelligence that will lead us to the Alhajis who were waiting to purchase the stolen cattle. They too will be brought to justice,” he stated.

Also reacting to the incident, the traditional ruler of the Hausa community in Abia, HRH Eze Yaro Danladi, expressed concern over the potential crisis that the rustling could have triggered.

“Imagine what the Fulani owners of the cattle would have done to the Ohiya community if the cattle had gone missing,” Danladi said.
“We thank the government for acting quickly.”

Meanwhile, one of the arrested suspects, during initial interrogation, admitted to being a herder. He, however, claimed their target was only one cow but that the owners were alleging that five cows were missing.

The suspects remain in custody and, according to security officials, will be prosecuted once investigations are completed.