As Nigerians recover from the gory details surrounding the lynching of a young man for allegedly stealing garri, a legal practitioner, whose account went viral on Thursday claimed the victim and his gang tried to dispossess a woman of her belongings.
Kingsley Ughe, General Counsel for Joint Action Aids, in a Facebook post titled, ‘A Thief and A Frenzied Mob Baying for Blood,’ said the victim was a member of a gang of notorious thieves and not a seven-year-old boy, as claimed by media reports.
He explained that the young man met his dastardly end after his gang tried to dispossess a woman of her belongings, including an Infinix Note 2 phone, at Augustine Onwualu street, Orile Iganmu, Lagos last Saturday.
The woman, however, held unto her phone and screamed for help.
Read Ughe’s account below
The true account of the young man lynched and summarily burnt to death at Orile Iganmu last Saturday speaks of the uncertainty and brevity of human life in Nigeria. It was Saturday, the 11th day of November 2016. The venue of this macabre killing orgy was at Augustine Onwualu Street, Orile Iganmu, Lagos.
A woman, (name withheld) was walking along the ever busy road of Augustine Onwualu street, Orile Iganmu. She had an Infinix Hotnote 2 handset with which she was making telephone calls in high pitched voice, frantically gesticulating in the process. Close by, on the same street were a gang of 4 notorious thieves, well known in the area for their dare devilry and viciousness. They were there, waiting, prowling and surveying the entire scenery for a vulnerable victim to rob and dispossessed of their valuables as they often do in the past. And successfully too.
“The woman approached. Still talking on the phone and gesticulating with her free arm. She was immediately spotted by the very perceptive eyes of this criminal gang. A brief conference amongst them, she was adjudged a soft target. There was no need for further plans or careful surveillance. After all they had done this successfully in the past. More so, their sheer ferocity makes them a sort of feared mobster in the local vicinity. But it turned out to be a miscalculation. And costly one at that!
“They approached and circled the woman who was oblivious of her surrounding and the imminent attack on her person. The robbery attack was swift and very decisive. She was held from behind by two members of the gang. One of them deftly pruned her hand bag off her shoulder and the same time attempted to retrieved the telephone with which she was making calls from her other arm. The last of the gang stood guard, providing cover for the others.
“They had during their planning stage misjudged the desperation of a Nigerian woman about to be dispossessed. The victim reacted swiftly. She let the hand free and held on tenaciously to her phone. A struggle ensued. The victim plaintively cried out for help. A motley crowd gathered. The other members of the gang, appropriately appraising the situation fled the scene. The fourth member was not so lucky. He continued to engage in an internecine struggle with victim for the phone. In desperation, he brought out a dagger, and cold blooded stabbed the woman repeatedly in the chest, stomach and shoulder. There is a proverb, when a strong animal flirts too much with the trap, he makes his meat available for children to share with teeth.
“The gathered crowd became enraged and promptly apprehended the abandoned thief. He was beaten to stupor, Tied up and set ablaze while the maddening crowd continued to bay for his blood.
“Joint Action Aid was alerted on Monday when video clips of the dastardly murder went viral on social media. We reported the yet another resort to “jungle justice” to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos state. The video clips were carefully analysed and some arrest made. The six people arrested through our efforts denied criminal culpability and brought fast talking lawyers.
“More frustrating, the charred remains of the alleged thief had been removed. The area council and Orile Iganmu police claimed ignorance of the whereabouts of the corpse. Thus we have a dead zone situation. No dead body, no witnesses and then, most understandably, an unwilling complainant still battling for survival from the grievous multiple stabbing at the hospital. We returned back to the office, again defeated. Frustrated. And defeated.The rule of law is vanquished again. The rule of the jungle continues to win triumphantly.
Kingsley Ughe ,a legal practitioner and General Counsel of the Joint Action Aids, can be reached via k.ughe@aol.com
Read another witnesses account on the matter:
A witness, who gave his name only as Nzekwe, said the mob burnt the boy, claiming that he came with three accomplices, who escaped after the theft.
He said, “It happened at the Alafia bus stop on Saturday. The teenage boy was trying to steal someone’s wallet. The teenager was said to have come with three other friends. But the victim held the teenager and raised the alarm.
“The other accomplices escaped when the teenager was caught. The victim held him. The mob descended on the teenager and beat him until he collapsed. One of the hoodlums got a tyre and the mob set fire to the brutalised teenager.”
Another witness on Facebook, who gave his name only as Harrison, alleged that the deceased belonged to a robbery gang, which usually stabbed victims who refused to part with their property.
He said, “My house is near the scene of the incident. Alafia bus stop is notorious for phone thieves. I lost my younger brother to the thieves in January 2016. He was 20 years old and was coming back from a rehearsal when he was attacked by the thieves at that bus stop.
“He was holding his friend’s Samsung Galaxy Tab. They stabbed him in the neck and my brother collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital, but he died minutes later.
“On Saturday, I was going somewhere when I witnessed the lynching of the thief at that same bus stop.
“I am against lynching, but this particular incident is very personal to me. I do not support jungle justice, but these teenage criminals are ready to kill during their robbery operations.”
Another resident confirmed to newsmen that the deceased was not a seven-year-old boy, burnt to death for stealing garri, as had been widely circulated.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, had directed the Orile Divisional Police Officer to investigate the incident.
She said, “The command received the report through the social media that the incident occurred in the Orile area.
“The CP has directed the DPO in charge of that jurisdiction to investigate and brief the command.
“If that incident actually happened, be assured that the perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted. The command will not tolerate jungle justice irrespective of the offence committed.”
May his soul RIP
No comments:
Post a Comment