Loose cow headbutts man to death in Lagos

A loose cow, in the early hours of Wednesday, August 30, 2023, headbutted a 30-year-old man identified as Ubani Usman to death in the abattoir located in the Agege area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that the incident happened after the cow broke loose from the abattoir.

According to a source, who spoke on a condition of anonymity over fear of victimisation, the deceased victim was immediately rushed down to the general hospital in the area for medical attention before he was later pronounced dead by a doctor on duty.

The source added that following the incident, all efforts by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to arrest the fiery cow proved abortive and that butchers in the area refused to provide the cow for arrest.

“The man was standing not far from the abattoir when the incident happened. The cow broke loose, and before we knew it, it had rammed the man down. We took the victim to the general hospital in the area, but he was later confirmed dead by a doctor.

“When the policemen came to arrest the ram and the owners, the people in the abattoir were not helpful at all. So no arrest has been made,” the source was quoted as saying.

This incident happened a few months after a 43-year-old electrician in Bayelsa State, Sobokime Igodo, was attacked two days before Christmas by a cow intended to be slaughtered for the Yuletide celebration.

Recounting how Igodo was killed, his brother, Eniya said the deceased “and his group of friends decided to contribute money to buy a cow so that they could slaughter it and share among themselves and make merriment with their families. So, on December 23, they brought the cow to his residence as the secretary of the group. But where the cow was kept was not the actual spot they wanted to slaughter and butcher it. They tried to move the cow to the spot where they wanted to slaughter it, but the cow refused to move. It stayed put to the ground. Somebody was holding the rope with which they tied it. Suddenly, the cow got up and rushed towards Sobokime and attacked him, hitting him, and he fell to the ground immediately.”

Eniya added that he got completely paralysed after sustaining a spinal cord injury from the incident.