Worried by persistent cattle rustling in Plateau, the Special Task Force (STF) on peace in the state has mapped out strategies to end the menace, the Commander, Maj.- Gen. Emmanuel Ayoola, said.

“We have established symbiotic links to network with herdsmen, local vigilance groups, youth teams, community leaders and experts on cow theft matters toward ending this menace once and for all,’’ Ayoola said.

He said in Jos on Sunday that the STF was working toward establishing permanent ranches where adequate security would be provided against rustlers.

“When we do that, rustlers can only steal in the day which is not easy,’’ he explained.

Ayoola said that Fulani leaders had, however, complained that the arrangement might pose some difficulty for them since they did not stay in one place.

He, however, said the arrangement was an option worth exploring to safeguard the animals against thieves.

Ayoola said that the STF had also stationed its personnel in markets to check cattle meant for sale to discourage cow thieves from the activity as there would be no place for them to sell stolen animals.

The commander revealed that cow rustlers were found among herdsmen and their host communities but added that youths in such communities were encouraged to form “civilian STF’’ to fish out criminals among them.

“We have told them to emulate the example of the ‘civilian JTF’ that had been able to restore order to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa by forming groups to fish out members of Boko Haram among them so as to rid the society of such bad elements.

“We think this option is very important because the thieves live among the people and are usually known by the communities. The communities should not cover them.

“We have also told vigilante groups that their duties should go beyond just protecting their people; they should fish out bad elements that could give the communities a bad name and make them vulnerable to attacks by people they (bad eggs) had offended.’’

Ayoola urged the people to take advantage of their knowledge of their areas to help the STF to fish out criminals and promised that the team would collaborate with groups seeking to restore order to the society.

He said that the STF was particularly concerned about cattle rustling because it was a peculiar kind of theft “with heavy security implications’’ as the herdsmen see the cows as their lives.

“For the herdsmen, once you steal a cow, they feel you are killing them and will seek to kill you as well. In fact, they kill two persons for each cow stolen,’’ Ayoola said.

The commander described the situation as very serious as the cattle rustlers were usually “heavily armed’’ during operations and would shoot anyone who ventured to stand in their way.

“We have always recovered at least 75 per cent of cows rustled but our ability to apprehend the thieves is usually affected by the fact that we do not get to hear of the incidents on time.

“Many herdsmen are usually the young elements that hardly call, so by the time they reach their guardians, the thieves would have run several kilometres away. This usually affects our ability to track them down quickly.

“Again, the cow thieves follow unpredictable routes because the known routes are usually blocked by our men and that is why we need to work with the locals because they know the terrain much better,’’ he said.

The commander said STF personnel had often abandoned their vehicles and either trekked or used motorcycles to pursue rustlers.