Bole: Police retrieve decomposed bodies of 3 herdsmen from forest

The police in the Northern Region on Friday retrieved the decomposed bodies of three herdsmen, from a forest near Kalidu in the Bole District.

The three, said to be Burkinabe nationals were identified as Osman Hadi; 18years, Lasani Saaku; 21years, and Haruna Husein; 19years.

According to the police, they suspect foul play.

The three were said to have taken their cattle to the forest to graze and did not return home.

The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr. Mohammed Yussif Tanko told Graphic Online that on August 7, 2018 Mr. Zakari Yahaya, the owner of the cattle reported that the three were missing.

After a thorough search, they were however found dead in the forest on Friday August 10, 2018.

He said deceased were lying in a supine position close to each other and their bodies in an advanced stage of decomposition with “maggots and flies all over the bodies”.

According to him, the police found three empty AA cartridges lying near the decomposed bodies and a cow also found dead a few distance from the bodies which suggest that, they could have been shot with a gun by their attackers.

“On Saturday, August 11, 2018, a team of police investigators, a medical officer from Bole Government Hospital and Environmental Health Officer of Bole District Assembly visited the crime scene at the Kalidu forest."

The bodies were examined by the medical officer at the scene and the Environmental Health Officer advised that due to the decomposed nature of the bodies, it will not be advisable to convey them to the mortuary as it will pose a health risk to the general public, the bodies were released to the family for immediate burial at the crime scene” he added.

DSP Tanko said preliminary investigations revealed that, the three Burkinabe herdsmen have been working with Mr. Zakari Yahaya, the complainant for about a year now.

He said the police have launched investigations into the incident.

Three Burkinabe herdsmen were on Friday, August 10, 2018 found dead in a forest near Kalidu in the Bole District in the Northern Region.