I used young girls as baits

“Crocodiles are lovers of girls, so I used young girls to trap the crocodile and bring it out of the water.”

Those were the words of 32-year-old fisherman, Benjamin Abu, as he narrated how he killed a man-eating crocodile that had terrorised a community in Niger State for months. Abu shared his story with an audience, including the Governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, at Government House Minna. However, the crocodile hunter assured that the girls were placed at a great distance from the crocodile and their lives were never in danger.

The crocodile, which roamed Sheeta community in Munya Local Government Area for years, killed no fewer than six people and several cows belonging to Fulani herdsmen in the area. As the news of the crocodile’s capture filtered into the community, friends and reations of those that had been killed by the wild animal as well as the Fulani herdsmen who lost their cattle to it stormed the Government House with cudgels to vent their anger. They hit the animal persistently until it could hardly breathe.

Abu, a native of Makurdi, Benue State, said he was born into a family of fishermen, adding that he had lived in Sheeta community for more than 20 years. He said he inherited from his late father the mystical power with which he drew out the crocodile and rendered it powerless.

He said, “My father told me before he died that if I had to capture a crocodile, there must be a complaint against the crocodile. Without a complaint, there cannot be an arrest. I am not supposed to do it for money or as a means of livelihood. I captured it because of the complaints leveled against it by the community, particularly the havoc it had wreaked.”

Abu said the charge to capture the more than 40-year-old crocodile came in the form of a plea by the councillor of the area, Mohammed Kilichi, who approached him and pleaded with him to come to the aid of the community and save the residents’ lives by ensuring that the crocodile was captured.

He recalled that he asked the councillor to give him two weeks to capture the crocodile, revealing, however, that he captured it exactly one week after he was given the assignment.

He also recalled that while monitoring the crocodile, he prevented it from attacking a Fulani woman who was busy washing clothes at the riverside. He said he had to advise the woman to leave the place.

He said he caused the crocodile to move to the bank of the river by rendering certain incantations his father had taught him, while he engaged some young girls to stay at the bank of the river and make a particular sound.

Asked whether using young girls as baits to capture a crocodile did not amount to endangering the lives of the girls involved, a human rights activist and Director General of the African Centre for Human Rights and Justice, Dr. Aliyu Adegbesan, said there was nothing wrong in the fisherman using the girls to get the crocodile out of its enclave. He said, “We are Africans and we don’t need to deceive ourselves. We know that some of these things happen. I see nothing wrong in what the fisherman did, as long as he did not say he told the girls to enter the river with him to bring the crocodile out.

“The role he said the girls played in the whole exercise was to stay at the bank of the river and make a certain sound that would draw out the crocodile. I believe the girls were at a safe distance, so I see nothing wrong in it.

The role of the girls was just to make certain sounds that would draw the crocodile closer to the river’s bank where the fisherman could have access to it. I see nothing wrong with that at all.” The Police Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Command, Mr. Richard Oguche, denied knowledge of the development. He declined further comments on the issue when he was pressed further on the position of the law on the fisherman’s action.

Asked why he brought the crocodile to the state governor if he did not capture it for pecuniary reasons, Abu said it was at the prompting of members of the community who felt that the governor deserved to see it.

He said, “I won’t ask the government for anything, but if the government decides to give me anything, I will collect it.”

Abu alerted the state government that the captured crocodile had a female partner, which he said was still in the river and also had the capacity to cause havoc. He, however, promised to act on the governor’s request that he should help the community to capture the female crocodile alive. But he requested the governor to plead with the elders of the community to prevail on the people not to kill the female crocodile when it was captured.

Abu said the crocodile he captured at Sheeta was the eighth he had captured in different parts of the country in response to pleas by besieged communities.

He said the exact age of the crocodile could be determined if it was slaughtered and its bowel examined, adding that a crocodile swallows a stone at the end of each year it spends on earth. But he said considering its size and state, the crocodile he captured at Sheeta could not be less than 40 years old.

Kilichi, who spoke to our correspondent, said the community had been at the mercy of the crocodile, which repeatedly attacked the people.

“We were aware of the destruction the animals had done in the community even before my appointment as a councillor. But with my coming on board and as the complaints of the crocodiles’ attacks on the people persisted, I met with the elders of the community and we came up with the idea of seeking Abu’s help,” he stated.

He disclosed that he could not come up with solutions to the menace of the crocodile earlier because he was not in a position to do so. He said his election as a councillor gave him an opportunity to address the problem.

Responding to why the community failed to intimate the state government about the the threat posed by the crocodile, he said the community feared convincing the government about the threat the crocodile constituted might be difficult, hence they resorted to self help.

He said, “I have not paid the fisherman a dime. I only approached him for assistance as a friend and a member of the community. I pleaded with him following the number of lives that had been lost to the crocodiles.

The Niger State Governor commended the fisherman for the feat and for coming out boldly to defend the community against the crocodile.

According to him, “The task of ensuring safety of lives and properties is the responsibility of all. It should not be left in the hands of the government or security agents alone. This is what you have just demonstrated with this feat. I want you to see this as your own way of contributing to the well being and welfare of the community you live in.”

Aliyu pleaded with the fisherman to assist the people of the community to bring out the female crocodile, but pleaded with the fisherman to ensure that the female crocodile was not killed, saying that the animal could be kept in one of the relaxation gardens being proposed by the state government.

Admiring the huge frame and size of the crocodile, the state governor requested for its skin, noting that it would be good for quality shoes.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the fisherman, who came together with other fishermen and leaders of the community were miffed by the amount of money the Niger State Government paid in appreciation of their efforts. The people believed the sum of N80,000 given to them by the government was too meagre.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that N80,000 was paid to Abu through Kilichi, who collected the money from one of the governor’s aides delegated to effect the payment.

In an interview with our correspondent, the Serkin Ruwa, Alhaji Isa Saidu, confirmed the amount as what was given to Abu and others for their efforts.

The 72-year-old man, who had being the Sarkin Ruwa (head of fishermen) of the community for more than 20 years, also expressed joy that the community would enjoy some respite with the captured crocodile and commended the state government for assigning Abu to capture the female crocodile.

Three prominent fishermen in the area: Audu Bako, Abu Momoh and Salihu Umar, in separate interviews, frowned at what they described as the greed of officials of the Niger State Government whom they claimed did not declare the actual amount given by the governor. They insisted that the money said to be released was far more than the amount given to them, accusing the government official of shortchanging them.

Bako, Momoh and Umar are heads of the Junkun, Igalla and Nupe communities in Sheeta.

Bako said the N80,000 was too meagre, adding that a big live crocodile in the market could sell for as much as N1 million.

He disclosed that the fishermen and the members of the rural community would share the crocodile, but he expressed doubt about the preparedness of the fisherman and the members of the community to release its skin to the state governor as requested because of their belief that they were shortchanged by officials of the state government.

According to him, “We feel shortchanged because we are fishermen and we know the worth of a crocodile, the skin of a crocodile as big as this one will not cost less than N500, 000 in major hotels in Abuja and Kaduna.

“With only N80,000 paid, Abu did not make anything out of it as he had to pay N4,000 for each of the four vehicles that were chartered to take the crocodile and members of the rural community to Government House in Minna. Each of those that followed him collected between N1,000 and N2,000. So the N80,000 did not go to him, even though he collected. He had to share it in the spirit of communal living.”

However, officials of Munya Local Government Area, have promised to attend to the community’s complaint that it was shortchanged. The Secretary of the local government, Alhaji Sulaiman Kato, who confirmed this in an interview with our correspondent, also said the council had concluded arrangements to collect the crocodile skin from the fisherman for onward transfer to the governor.

He said the council would take it upon itself to ensure that Abu’s efforts did not go unappreciated.

how did he do it . this guy should run the central bank. waoh.

i still dont understand what right does a state governor have towards the skin of a crocodile caught by this fisherman and his team.

+ i commend the fisherman who talks of saving the female crocodile. good man.