Police in Borno State has arrested and detained a sheep and her two lambs for eating up a heap of fried fish displayed for sale at Bulabulin Ward of the MMC, Maiduguri, Borno State.
The sheep were arrested on Saturday and are currently being detained.
The arrest was made following a complaint lodged at the Bulabulin Divisional Police headquarters by one Yusuf Ibrahim who sells fish along a busy road in the neighborhood, according to a report by Zagazola Makama, a counter insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region.
Ibrahim complained that the sheep in question had terrorized him for years by laying in wait for him to leave the scene before pouncing on the stock of fried fish and making a mouthful grab of a chunk if it.
According to him, he had endured the intrusion and criminal behavior of the sheep for five years, but Saturday’s incident which caused him huge losses was too much to bear.
He said before his attention turned to the sheep, it had eaten a big chunk causing him huge financial loss.
He further remarked that the sheep had formed the habit of coming around his selling point, patiently keeping watch from a distance while he fries, behaving as if it had no ulterior motive.
But as soon as his attention shifts, the sheep makes a dash towards the table and before he knew it, would devour the fish being running away.
He added that he had tolerated these acts for five years and had severally asked the owner to take action by tying and feeding the sheep – all to no avail.
The owner of the sheep one Luba Mohammed , a housewife, lamented that she didn’t know how and when the sheep developed a liking for fried fish.
She admitted that the fish seller had indeed laid complains to her severally over the years on the persistent havoc caused him by the sheep.
She begged Malam Ibrahim to temper justice with mercy and release the sheep, with a promise that she will either sell, slaughter or tie it at home.
Efforts to speak to officers at the Police station on the matter proved abortive. They insisted that they have no mandate to speak to journalists, according to Makama.