Goat behind bars for car theft

There are several papers for sale in Windhoek, in various languages with various viewpoints. As we drive Tristan to school and then on to Poly for me to go to work, we can buy a paper at several intersections for N$3 (about 30 cents, US). We purchase the Namibian, which is an independent paper (there is a government-backed paper called New Era) in English. Yesterday's top story is below, a report from Nigeria. Thought you might enjoy it! I've typed it word for word from the January 28, 2009 Namibian.

One interesting note--I tried to find "the photo" of the alleged criminal mastermind, and several internet sites purported to have the photo. But, they were all different goats and most were photos from the US (like a photo of a 4H goat project in Kentucky). You'll have to use your imagination, I guess. Just watch your car the next time you see a herd of goats...

Goat behind bars for car theft

LAGOS--Police in Nigeria are holding a goat handed to them by a vigilante group, which said it was a car thief who had used witchcraft to change shape.

In a front-page article on Friday, the VANGUARD, one of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers said two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.

A police spokesman in Kwara State has been quoted as saying that the 'armed robbery suspect' would remain in custody until investigations were over.

The VANGUARD newspaper has a picture of the goat and reports that police paraded it in front of journalists in the Kwara State capital Ilorin on Thursday. But that was denied by national police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu.

"The vigilante group arrested the goat and took it to the police, then they told the media." The next morning journalists turned up demanding to see the goat, he said. "But of course, goats can't commit crime."

Belief in black magic and the power to change shape is common in Nigeria, particularly in the far-flung rural areas. The BBC's Andrew Walker in Abuja says communities often rely on ill-educated and badly prepared vigilante squads to fill the gaps where police will not patrol at night.

Innocent Chukwuma of the justice reform group the Cleen Foundation, told BBC that many Nigerian police officers were poorly educated. "There are officers who don't even have a secondary school education, and the police have a big job to do in finding these people and getting rid of them."