It was end of the road for three Senegalese cow thieves, identified by police as Umar Dogo Ndaiye, Datti Umar Rodi and Mammadu Dogo, after a gun duel with security forces at Falgore forest yesterday.
The Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Musa Katsina, while parading 74 rustlers, along with 818 cows and 87 sheep, said: “Umaru Dogo Ndaiye, a Senegalese national, was gunned down when he engaged our men in a gun battle at Falgore forest by Gazobi village.
He later gave up the ghost while receiving treatment in the hospital.”
The commissioner also said the other two deceased lost their lives in the cause of the gun battle with police.
He said that the police recovered a large cache of arms.
He said some of the suspects were nabbed, clad in police and army camouflage which they used to intimidate and rob Fulani herdsmen
“A revolver pistol and 224 cattle were recovered from the notorious kingpin, while four other members of his gang were arrested,’’ he said.
Katsina stated that during the month-long special operation at Falgore forest and environs, the police also recovered 42 AK 47 rifles and 28 live cartridges.
The police commissioner, who paraded the suspects and recovered livestock before the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and Emir of Kano, His Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II at
Kwanar Dawaki in Dawaki Kudu Local Government Area of the state, said a police officer who was injured during the operation had recovered.
Alarmed by the emerging development, Governor Ganduje in his speech, described the activities of rustlers as worrisome.
“This is happening as we are yet to recover from the menace of insurgency, but now another frightening dimension of crime has resurfaced, which is alarming,” the governor said.
Ganduje, who assured security agencies of the state government’s supports in efforts to fish out those involved in cattle rustling, urged security agencies to ensure that all the suspects faced the wrath of the law.
He noted that already, a committee had been set up to ensure the recovered livestock were returned to their rightful owners, adding that those involved in cattle rustling should realize that their days were numbered.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II recommended that Islamic law be applied in the prosecution of the suspects, so they could face such punishments as amputation of hands and legs, killing, pelting of their bodies with sticks, life imprisonment or exile.
