There was
tension at Apo new site, a community in the Federal Capital Territory,
following the death of 12 cows on Monday.
The cattle
reportedly died after grazing in a garden belonging to a female resident.
Angered by the incident, some Fulani youths attempted to stage a protest in the
community but were prevailed upon to shelve their plans.
The cattle
owner, Alhaji Ibrahim Madawaki, complained that he had lost over 42 cows within
one year, adding that 30 of the dead cattle were killed in similar
circumstances.
He called
for government intervention to prevent a violent crisis in the area, noting
that the situation might get out of hand if nothing was done to stop the
killing of his livestock.
Madawaki
stated that some Fulani youths wanted to protest the latest killing of his
animals, but were persuaded to calm down by the elders.
He said,
“This is not the first time they were killing my cattle. Last year, the same
thing happened and almost 30 cows died and last week, about 12 were also
poisoned.
“We need the
Federal Government to intervene so peace can reign here. If this thing continues
and if we decide to revenge, people will say Fulani herdsmen have started
again. The same thing (crisis) is happening in Jos, Kaduna, Nasarawa, we don’t
want it to happen in FCT.
“We want the
authority to help so that we don’t experience the same thing here. If we were
not around when the incident happened, it might have degenerated into a crisis,
but we asked our boys to calm down and allow us to handle it.”
The
Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, FCT branch,
Adamu Daura, accused an unnamed woman of poisoning the animals, adding that the
matter had been reported to the police for investigation.
“We want the
people concerned to replace the dead cows. We are waiting for the police to
tell us what they would do about it. We are also waiting for some veterinary
doctors to test the cows to know the kind of poison they consumed,” he stated.
The FCT
Police spokesman, Manzah Anjuguri, said the Force had commenced investigation
into the killing of the animals.
He however
declined to comment on the reported arrest of a suspect.
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