As Nigerians grapple with 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.