73 cows belonging to Ibrahim Zubairu, the Chief Imam of Gidan-Makeri, in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, were rustled in a raid by bandits.
The incident occurred around 5:33 PM on Tuesday, according to Shuaibu Ahmadu, a resident of the neighbouring Kuchimi village.
The bandits, armed with sophisticated weapons, invaded the area and headed straight for the location where the cows were kept.
They fired shots sporadically to deter any villagers from pursuing them as they led the cows away.
At the time of the raid, the imam was in Kagarko. Upon learning of the theft, vigilantes from Kuchimi village quickly mobilized and pursued the bandits. Ahmadu noted that the vigilantes managed to retrieve the stolen cows.
“The imam was at Kagarko. But as God would have it, the cows were later retrieved by some vigilantes from neighbouring Kuchimi village, who went after the bandits,” Ahmadu said.
It was learnt that the bandits were forced to abandon the cows before crossing River Gurara, allowing the vigilantes to reclaim the animals.
As of the time of reporting, Hassan Mansur, the spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, has not confirmed the incident.
