Cattle rustling: I-G inaugurates 27-member implementation committee

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has inaugurated a 27-member implementation committee on the curtailment of cattle rustling in Nigeria.
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, Idris charged its members to come up with policies and strategies to enable the police to stamp out the menace of cattle rustling in the country.
Idris said: “I believe with proper coordination and synergy the problem of cattle rustling will be a thing of the past in Nigeria.”
He said that the setting up of the committee was overdue, adding that cattle rustling and kidnapping were part of security challenges confronting the country.
He said: “With the enactment and enforcement of these laws, we will stamp out cattle rustling in Nigeria.”
The I-G said that the standing committee was expected to advise the police from time to time on how to tackle cattle rustling.
Earlier, the AIG in charge of Force Animal Branch, Charles Ugomuoh, said that the committee would in exercise of its functions, set up other committees as the need arises.
Ugomuoh said that members of the committee in partnership with the police had the capacity to stamp out cattle rustling in Nigeria.
He said: “This inauguration is a bold step on the police community partnership and collaboration for enhancement of community policing in Nigeria.”
Prof. Garba Sharubutu, who spoke on behalf of the members, said that they were committed in discharging their responsibilities based on the committee’s terms of reference.
He urged members to remain committed to the task assigned to them.
Sharubutu said:“We need to remain committed to our mother land and nothing will stop us from achieving result.”
The committee will among other things design standard operational guidelines for implementation nationwide.
It will also serve as an Advisory body through the I-G to the state governors and the presidency for the curtailment of cattle rustling in Nigeria.
The inauguration of the committee was the fallout of stakeholder’s forum on the curtailment of cattle rustling held on September 20.