Oyo Police Arrest Cattle Rustler For Allegedly Killing Employer

IBADAN, Nigeria – The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old cattle rustler, Muhammadu Bello, in connection with the alleged murder of his employer, Yay Mohammed, a cattle dealer from Soku Village near Iseyin Town.

The suspect was paraded at the Oyo State Police Command Headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Friday, September 22, 2023, alongside 32 other suspects apprehended for various crimes, including cultism, armed robbery, and impersonation.

The grim incident happened when Bello reportedly hacked his employer to death with a club inside Soku forest in the Iseyin Local Government Area of the state. After committing the crime, he fled with the victim’s 20 cows and 14 sheep.

SP. Adewale Osifeso, the spokesperson for the Oyo State Police Command, confirmed the incident, stating that they received actionable information on September 17, 2023. This information was provided by a credible source in Iseyin town, alerting authorities to a nomadic cattle herder, Muhammadu Bello, seeking to sell a large herd of cattle at Kara Market in Iseyin.

“Sequel to this credible information, a team of operatives attached to the unit to Iseyin town were deployed for swift intervention and in the process, the suspect who later identified himself as Mohammed Bello, was arrested and upon interrogation, he confessed that he was a cattle rustler and subsequently led the operatives to a thick forest where he concealed twenty (20) live cows and fourteen sheep that he rustled from his employer,” the PPRO stated.

“However, upon further investigation of SOKU Forest where he claimed to have carried out the dastardly activity, it was discovered that the suspect had killed the owner of the cows and sheep who was identified by him as YAU MOHAMMED (his employer) and buried him in a shallow grave. The Club which he confessed to having used to attack and kill his employer was equally recovered from the scene of the crime

“Investigation is in progress with assurances of communicating further developments,” Osifeso added.

Some of the exhibits recovered from the suspect include 20 live cows, 14 live sheep, and a club.