42 Cows Die Mysteriously in FCT Community, Herder Collapses in Shock

A 41-year-old cattle herder, Musa Lawal, reportedly collapsed and was hospitalised after discovering that 42 of his cows had died under mysterious circumstances in the Koroko community of Kwali Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The incident has prompted an investigation by security agencies amid fears that the animals may have grazed on chemically contaminated vegetation. The FCT Treasurer of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Yahuza Ibrahim, confirmed the incident to reporters on Thursday, explaining that the tragedy occurred on Tuesday at about 6:12 pm when two of Lawal’s sons took the cattle out to graze. According to Ibrahim, the animals were later found dead at different locations in the bush, raising suspicions that they may have consumed grass contaminated with chemicals. “Immediately we received the report, I alerted the MACBAN chairman, who directed me to proceed to the scene. We discovered that 42 cows had died. We suspect they may have eaten grass that had been sprayed with chemicals,” Ibrahim said.

Upon receiving news of the incident, Lawal rushed to the grazing area but collapsed after discovering the extent of his loss. He was immediately taken to the General Hospital in Kwali, where he was admitted and treated for shock before being discharged on Wednesday. The chairman of Kwali Area Council, Hon. Nuhu Daniel Kwali, accompanied by Fulani community leaders, later visited the family to sympathise with them over the loss. Confirming the incident, the council chairman described it as shocking and unfortunate. He stated that the council had directed relevant security agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security operatives, to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the cattle deaths. The chairman also noted that the council was considering measures to support the affected herder and prevent any potential breakdown of peace between farmers and herders in the area.

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The incident highlights the ongoing tensions in the FCT, where a chronic lack of grazing reserves has forced herders to use areas that may expose their cattle to risks, including farms that could be treated with chemicals. According to the MACBAN secretary in the FCT, Alhaji Ibrahim Ciroma, the lack of grazing land has led to crises between farmers and herders in some parts of the territory. He noted that farmers have taken over the only available grazing reserves in Kawu, Rubochi and Paiko-Kore, and that the government has not compensated the farmers to allow herders to use the land for grazing. Herders in several communities across the FCT often have to move their cows to the tops of hills to graze, but even these hills are being used by farmers to plant crops.

This incident comes amid broader farmer-herder tensions in the FCT. In April 2026, one person was killed and another severely injured in a farmers-herders clash in Fogbe village, Kwali Area Council, after herders allegedly invaded the village over claims that two of their cattle died from suspected food poisoning while grazing near the community. In September 2025, the body of a herder was found in a fadama (lowland farm) in Riwaza, near the Fogbe community in Kwali Area Council, after he went missing following a grazing trip. A study on conflict dynamics between farmers and herders in the FCT identified competition for land and water, inadequate grazing reserves, cattle rustling, and mutual distrust as key causative factors.

42 Cows Die Mysteriously in FCT Community, Herder Collapses in Shock

No Ransom, No Negotiation: President Reveals Intelligence Behind Oriire School Rescue

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has publicly revealed the intelligence-driven strategy behind the successful rescue of 46 schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, confirming that security forces tracked and arrested the families of the kidnappers to pressure the terrorists into releasing their captives—without paying ransom or negotiating with criminals. The President made the disclosure on Thursday while receiving a delegation of traditional rulers from Oyo State, led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The visit was a thank-you mission to appreciate the Federal Government and the Armed Forces for securing the release of the victims after they spent 56 days in captivity.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the victims were rescued on July 10, Tinubu said the kidnappers presented two conditions for the release of the hostages: a demand for money and the release of detained members of their criminal gang who were already in custody. The Federal Government rejected both demands outright. “We refuse to negotiate for ransom. These criminals wanted us to release from detention members of their criminal gangs that were already arrested. That was one of their conditions, outside of the money they were looking for. And we said no deal. We are not going to negotiate with criminals. They committed murder, and we were ready to finish with their families, members of their own communities. They grew up somewhere,” the President stated. He emphasised that the government’s refusal to negotiate was aided by the military’s detailed knowledge of the forest terrain where the kidnappers were holed up. “We refused to pay ransom. We have the geography of the forest. We know what it is, and in answer to it, you’ve seen that from eight divisions, we are now moving to 12 divisions, to shorten the response time and give that response time the teeth needed to defeat terrorism and banditry,” he said.

According to security sources, the operation was driven by intelligence that led operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to track down and arrest several wives and children of the suspected kidnappers across different communities and cities nationwide. The family members were subsequently moved to Abuja, where they were interrogated in accordance with investigative procedures. Investigators believe the arrest of the terrorists’ family members reduced the likelihood that the abductors would harm the hostages, fearing possible consequences for their own relatives. Security sources further disclosed that video recordings of the interrogations were somehow leaked to the kidnappers, a development that reportedly unsettled the terrorists and made them more responsive to negotiations. “The kidnappers suddenly became more responsive. They abandoned their earlier hardline position and started making frequent contact instead of disappearing after making demands,” one source said. The terrorists thereafter proposed releasing the abducted schoolchildren and teachers in exchange for the freedom of their wives and guarantees of safe passage. However, security agencies rejected the proposal, insisting that the captives must first be released unconditionally. A source familiar with the operation disclosed that the final order to storm the camp was issued on Thursday night after fresh intelligence confirmed that the abducted schoolchildren and teachers were no longer being used as human shields. The assault was swift, well coordinated, and backed by overwhelming firepower, catching the terrorists off guard. During the operation, scores of terrorists were killed, while eight others were arrested.

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In a related development, the Department of State Services has arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnapping and the subsequent killing of two victims. The five alleged members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (Ansaru) terrorist group were identified as Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar). In count one of the charge, Muhammad and Abbas were accused of ordering their foot soldiers within Ansaru, including Umar, Musa and Sani, to kidnap and kill people across the country in the event of their arrest, in order to compel the government to accede to their demands. In count two, the DSS alleged that the May 15 kidnapping of pupils and teachers in Oriire and the killing of two of the victims were carried out in furtherance of that order. The five pleaded not guilty when each count on the charge sheet was read to them. Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the prosecution’s request to remand the defendants in DSS custody, ordering that they be given unhindered access to their lawyers and two members of their immediate families, and that they be accorded adequate medical attention. The case was adjourned till September 25 for the commencement of trial.

President Tinubu revealed that the lessons learned from the Oriire abduction prompted a review of the country’s security architecture, leading to his directive to expand the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions. The expansion, which also includes the recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel, aims to shorten response time, decentralise operational decision-making, and strengthen border security and counter-insurgency operations. Under the new structure, the Army will operate 12 divisions strategically located across the country, with new divisions established in Makurdi (Benue State), Ilorin (Kwara State), Jalingo (Taraba State), and Benin City (Edo State). The implementation will be carried out in two phases, with the first phase expected to be completed by September 2026 and the second phase by December 2026. The President also announced plans to establish state police with safeguards against abuse and to enhance the capacity of forest guards to combat criminal elements operating in forests. “They are not just to chase antelopes and animals. We are going to have them chase the criminals and deal with them in various forests,” Tinubu said.

Oba Ladoja, speaking on behalf of the delegation, said the traditional rulers had confidence in the capability of Nigerian security agencies but remained apprehensive about the victims’ safe return. He expressed gratitude to the President and all stakeholders for their efforts in securing the rescue. The Olubadan also used the occasion to thank the Tinubu administration for ongoing and proposed federal road projects aimed at improving connectivity across Oyo State, including the dualisation of the Ibadan-Ijebu Ode Road, Ogbomoso-Ilorin Road, and the Badagry-Sokoto Highway passing through the Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun axis of the state.

The Oriire school attack occurred on May 15, 2026, when gunmen stormed three schools—Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School—in Esiele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area, abducting about 39 pupils and seven teachers. A mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was beheaded during the attack, and another teacher, Deacon John Olaleye, was later killed in captivity. The victims regained their freedom on July 10 after spending 56 days in captivity in an intelligence-led operation that resulted in the arrest of eight suspected kidnappers without the payment of ransom.

No Ransom, No Negotiation: President Reveals Intelligence Behind Oriire School Rescue