Lightning in torrential rain kills 32 cows, to be buried under supervision of government officials
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Lightning during torrential rainfall struck and killed 32 cows valued at N100 million at the weekend in Odeda Council of Ogun, the Commissioner of Police Lanre Ogunlowo has confirmed, and the heavily impacted cattle farmer is seeking help for himself and his workers to recover from the loss.
Wasiu Afolabi, the Baale of Osara, Obantoko, Abeokuta, said the dead animals will be buried today under the supervision of state government officials.
The elder brother of the owner of the cows, Hassan Momodu, pleaded for the support of the state government to recover from the loss suffered by the cattle farmer and his workers.
He commended the state government and the police for the steps taken so far but stressed that the natural disaster left his brother with nothing to cater for his family and about 20 others who make a living out cow business.
Said Momodu: “The owner of the cows is my younger brother. He is the breadwinner of the family. Aside from his family members, there are more than 20 people who also feed from this business but he has lost everything.
“The market value of these animals is almost N100 million. So, we are only begging the government to see whatever it could do to help this young man get back to business.
“We have all agreed that it is a natural disaster but with the government’s support the pains could be alleviated.
“We are just finishing meeting with the police and the Fulani herders [who took care of the cows] were also there.
“The corpses of the animals will be buried by the sanitary officers from the local government on Monday after the Sango priests would have performed the usual rites and rituals. The community will shoulder the financial burden of these rites.
“The Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Daisi Elemide, and the Chairman of Odeda Local Government, Afolashade Adeyemo, have also come around for an on-the-spot assessment and to sympathise with the Fulani herders.
“The cost of the dead cows is put around N100 million. These are very big cows. You can testify to this with the circulating video of the incident. It’s indeed a huge loss.”
The cows were said to have been struck dead by lightning around 12pm on Saturday during torrential rain.
Ogunlowo confirmed that “the [police] command is well aware. The incident was reported to the DPO Aregbe Division at about 1330hrs on 21/06/2025.
“He led a team to the scene. Thirty-two cows were struck dead when thunder and lightning occurred during a downpour.”
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