Over the years, the gory images of the victims of mob justice have stirred emotions and concerns. The recent lynching of 16 Northern travellers, suspected to be kidnappers in Uromi, Edo State, has once again brought to the fore how jungle justice poses a threat to the unity of the country and national security. LADESOPE LADELOKUN writes on the need to tame the scourge
“Please stop! Don’t kill him! Take him to the police instead!” A passserby, Raphael Akelebe, screamed on sighting an angry mob that seemed determined to snuff out the life of robbery suspect identified as Osas around Uselu market in Benin City, Edo State.
For weeks, residents had lived with the frustration and bottled up anger stirred by an unchecked looting spree at stores. But it only took an allegation linking Osas to their source of pain for him to be arrested, prosecuted and convicted in a breath.
Then, a rain of punches fell on him, sticks from different directions hit him. It was clear another suspect was about to join the long list of people roasted on the streets of Nigeria with no fair hearing.
Akelebe, who played the biblical Good Samaritan, told Sunday Telegraph how he was labelled an accomplice and almost got lynched for pleading that the suspect be handed over to the police.
“Back in 2015, I witnessed a very disturbing case of jungle justice in Benin City, Edo State — somewhere around Uselu market area. A young man I later came to know as Osas was accused of looting shops in the neighborhood. According to the angry crowd that gathered, items had been mysteriously disappearing from local stores for weeks — things like generators, noodles, and mobile phone accessories — and Osas was believed to be the culprit behind it all.
“That day, someone pointed him out on the street, claiming he had seen him sneaking around the shops before. Before Osas could even speak or defend himself, the mob descended on him. People were kicking, punching, and even using sticks to beat him. It was a horrible sight. They were so sure he was guilty that no one even thought of calling the police,” he recounted.
Akelebe further narrated how his intervention made the difference after Osas was almost unconscious.
“I couldn’t just stand by and watch. So, I stepped in, trying to plead with them. I kept shouting, “Please stop! Don’t kill him! Take him to the police instead!” But instead of listening, the crowd turned on me. One man even accused me of being his accomplice. Things got really tense. A few others who tried to support my plea were also nearly attacked. It was pure chaos.
“Luckily, after much pleading from some elders and passersby, they agreed not to kill him. Osas, badly bruised and barely conscious, was eventually taken to the nearest police station.”
Speaking on the sad lessons he learned from the incident, he added: “Here’s the funny part — or maybe the shocking part: A week later, I saw Osas walking freely on the same street, chewing Suya like nothing had happened. I was stunned. I approached him and asked what happened. He simply said, ‘They had no evidence, so they let me go.”
“To this day, no one knows for sure whether he was guilty or just a victim of mistaken identity. But that experience taught me a lot: in this country, jungle justice can happen in a flash, and sometimes, even trying to do the right thing can put you in danger.”
It is sometimes argued that it is better for 100 guilty people to escape than to punish one innocent person. But reports abound of people convicted on the streets of Nigeria and sentenced to their early graves almost instantly.
Ideally, a suspect should be handed over to security agents for investigation. With unceasing reported and unreported cases of mob justice, questions are raised about the faith of Nigerians in the country’s security agencies.
According to Isa Sanusi, Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, the failure of law enforcement agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force, to prevent mob violence, investigate allegations of torture and killings, and bring suspected perpetrators to justice, is empowering mobs to kill, stating that the problem is compounded by weak and corrupt legal institutions and systems.
“The fact that these killings have been happening for a long time, with few cases investigated and prosecuted, highlights the authorities’ shocking failure to uphold and fulfil their obligation to protect people from harm and violence.”
Lynched, roasted ‘witches’
While Osas was lucky to escape death, Martina Okey’s life was terminated abruptly in 2023 in Cross River State over allegations of witchcraft.
She was accused of being responsible for the death of two young men, who died in a motor accident . Martina was eventually stoned and tortured before she was burnt alive by the roadside.
Also, just recently, in Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State, a 70-year-old woman, Talatu Joshua, was lynched by a group of four boys over witchcraft allegations.
The statement by the Spokesman of the Bauchi Police Command, CSP Ahmed Wakili, revealed that the attack was triggered by a traditional healer’s claim that Talatu was responsible for the illness of Ramatu Yusuf, the wife of one of the suspects.
The suspects, on the basis of the claim, allegedly confronted Talatu, accused her of witchcraft and threatened before attacking her with sticks, leading to her death.
In an interview with an online newspaper, her son, Johanna Haruna, said :“On March 2, 2025, I had just returned home when my son, Kefas, ran to me, saying grandma had been beaten and was lying on the roadside.
“He told me the attackers were Rilwanu, Ali, Jamilu, and Sama’ila, who were all Muslims. I rushed to the location on my bike, hoping to find her alive but she was already gone.”
Shocked, he immediately alerted the police in Kirfi, reporting the incident to Inspector Jerry, who assured him of police intervention.
“I carried my mother’s body home in tears, waiting for help. When the police finally arrived, they took photographs and filed a report but took no immediate action.”
Killed, destroyed for blasphemy
In 2022, the murder of a female student, Deborah Samuel, in Sokoto State, after she was accused of blasphemy sparked outrage.
Samuel, according to media reports, was killed after she sent a WhatsApp voice note to her classmates that some of them deemed to be insulting to the Prophet Muhammed.
In a video that went viral at the time, the lifeless and bloodied body of a woman said to be Samuel, could be seen beaten by men with sticks.
Also, Human Rights Watch said it documented around 250 deaths during the clashes between Muslims and Christians in 2002 after the offices of This Day newspaper in Kaduna State were burned down after publishing an article considered blasphemous.
Uromi 16 tragedy
Last month, outrage greeted the murder of 16 northern travellers in Uromi. Edo State. According to media reports, the travellers were said to be hunters on their way to Kano for the Sallah celebration, when a mob stopped them, concluded they were kidnappers before lynching them.
In a viral video of the incident, the victims can be seen overpowered, tied to used tyres, doused with petrol, and set ablaze.
Giving its account of the incident, the Edo State Police Command, in a statement by its spokesperson, CSP Moses Yamu, stated, “On March, 27, 2025, a truck with registration number KKF 225 XA, coming from Port Harcourt, conveying 25 travellers from Elele, a suburb of Rivers State, was accosted by some vigilante group members at Uromi.
“Some of the travellers, who were found in possession of locally made Dane guns were arrested.
“While this was ongoing, some vigilante members raised an alarm of them being suspected kidnappers, which led some members and passersby in the community to attack and lynch 16 of the occupants while the truck conveying them was equally burnt”
We’ve recorded at least 555 victims of mob justice – Amnesty International
In its 2024 report, Amnesty International said the failure of the Nigerian authorities to protect lives led to a growing escalation of mob violence over the last decade, as people increasingly took laws into their hands.
“Between January 2012 to August 2023, Amnesty International recorded at least, 555 victims of mob violence (how many killed), from 363 documented incidents across Nigeria. Over the period of this investigation, 57 people were killed by violent mobs; 32 were burnt alive, 2 persons were buried alive, while 23 people were tortured to death.
“In the Southern parts of Nigeria, mob violence is mostly targeted at those accused of theft, of taking part in rituals or practising witchcraft. In Northern Nigeria, it is mostly used against those accused of blasphemy and often endorsed by religious clerics,” it added.
Why govt must take action on security reports, tackle herdsmen killings – Mike Ahamba(SAN)
A senior lawyer, Chief Mike Ahamba(SAN), urged the Nigerian government to pay more attention to tackling the causes of killings in the country rather than focusing on the effects.
Reacting to the spate of jungle justice in the country in an interview with Sunday Telegraph, Ahamba said certain killings would have been averted if security reports were taken. Speaking specifically on the killings in Uromi, he said it was a barbaric reaction to the killings in Edo State earlier because the government failed to get justice for the families of the victims. Ahamba, however, warned that the Uromi example must not be replicated in any part of the country.
“I believe it is because when reports are made to the appropriate authorities, depending on who is involved, reports are not properly followed up. It will appear like there is discrimination as to when to follow up, depending on who the victim is. Secondly, we deal with effects and not cause. What happened in Uromi is an effect. Condemnable as it is, I will never support what happened in Uromi anytime, anywhere. But let’s not forget that it is a barbaric reaction to what happened in Edo. This harassment by herdsmen and bandits in certain places should be curtailed. I listened to the DG of the DSS the other day on one post I saw on the internet. He was saying that people should defend themselves. Well and good. Was there no call for people to surrender their weapons? After weapons are surrendered, some people are allowed to carry weapons openly and use them against others. That is the cause of this. Condemnable as it is, I’m happy every effort is being made to contain it. Let the authorities know that it is from small fire, big fire comes.
“Let us know that it is because the causes are not dealt with, that’s why the effects, some of which are worse than the causes occur. Those people killed on the road knew nothing about what happened in Edo. They are victims of anger and reprisal attacks because the government did not take seriously the original story of people, who were killed in Edo. But let no one copy the example of Uromi. It is wrong. It will not help. But let the government take timely action when reports are made irrespective of who is supposed to be the victim.”
Our laws overwritten, implementing 50% will solve Nigeria’s problems
Ahamba further explained that Nigeria has enough laws to check the activities of criminals across the country but implementation remained a challenge. “If we implement 50 per cent of our laws in this country, we won’t have problems. Our laws are overwritten, not underwritten. But those who are asked to implement these laws don’t do so.That is the problem. If we are asked to carry out our laws as they are, things will be much easier and better for everybody in this country. Even the constitution is not being obeyed by those who should obey them. That’s the truth. If you look at the constitution of the US, you can put it in your pocket, even that of China, as large as it is. Look at the book that is our constitution and we are writing more. Is it the content or the appllication that is the problem? For me, it is the application.”
Like animals, we’re in state of war of all against all – Sociologist
Commenting, a sociologist, Dr Rabi Abubakar, lamented the absence of social norms and values that should guide the actions of humans. “We are coming back to the era where life is short, brutish and unexpected. Why? There are no social norms that are guiding the behaviour of the people. Animals are in a state of war of all against all. It is the same thing with human beings if they do not have social norms and values of living together. If they don’t have a procedure of doing things, then terror is bound to break and we are going back to the animalistic world of war of all against all. “It is so barbaric that there is no beneficiary in the situation. Those that are killing are not benefitting and those that are being killed are neither benefitting also. In the long run, the society becomes the loser and remains the loser,” she told Sunday Telegraph.
Abubakar added that the power of effective leadership could not be overemphasised.
“But the society can have effective leadership. A leader who has the interest of the people. A leader who is there to serve the people. A leader who is guided by humane principles, then these things would not have happened. Once you have good leadership, then you have good followership.That is the situation, simply put. The leadership is supposed to guide the followership. And in most cases, the followership mimics the behaviours and the ideas of the leadership. Is it a Yoruba proverb that says if the head is rotten, the whole body becomes rotten? Once the leadership is not there to lead for the purpose of leadership, then you are going to have people following various things and various dimensions to fulfil their selfish individualistic aims and not the aims that will get the society together and make everyone benefit within the society.”
What Shariah Law says about punishment for killers -Sheikh Adangba
For Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abdulrahman Adangba, Islam forbids killing in the name of blasphemy. “Even Allah(God) that created us, people speak ill of Him. He didn’t descend to kill them. So, why will somebody speak ill of the prophet and you decide to kill them. It’s wrong. We’ve been telling them,” he said.
He noted that on no account should anyone kill fellow humans, stating that the court of law should be approached to seek justice.
“No, you are not allowed to kill. Even when your people are killed, you have to seek justice in a court of law. You know we have the Shariah law and what the Shariah law tells you is that if a soul is killed, the killer can be likened to someone who killed everyone on the surface of the earth.There are ways and manner to attend to such. One, it is to take him to court and find out if he is guilty or not. Two, if he is guilty, he will be charged accordingly. If the family of the victim say they are overlooking it, they are forgiving him, he has to pay compensation for that soul. The compensation for a single soul is N192 million. If you kill one person, you are paying N192 million. If the family say they are not forgiving him, they want him killed too, he must be killed in the manner the person he killed…
“If a person is mistakenly killed, anyone responsible will pay compensation. Number three, if you deliberately kill, you must not be allowed to stay longer before you are being taken off.”
Govt, communities must intensify efforts to protect citizens – Ex-DSS Director Ejiofor
For his part, former Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, Mike Ejiofor, the government alone cannot provide security for the citizenry. He told Sunday Telegraph that communities must play significant roles in curbing mindless killings.
“I think government security forces alone cannot provide security, even though the primary purpose of the government is the welfare and security of the people. The community needs to be mobilised and the vigilantes that are established mobilised by the police. That is the only way to go. So, if you are waiting for the government to provide all these things alone, it is not going to be possible. But one question is: how do you confront someone with an AK-47? It is a problem. As much as I believe that security forces must intensify and up their game, the communities also need to up their game to bring these things under control.”
He added: “We should see ourselves as Nigerians and not as Yoruba, Hausa and Ijaw. All these killings by the bandits in the North, how are we classifying them?Would you say because they are killing themselves, their actions are justified? If you go to the South East, unknown gunmen are killing people( their Igbo people). If you go to the Southwest, there is jungle justice. If you go to the North Central, Northwest, bandits are killing their brothers and sisters. But things must be brought under control, so that we move forward as a country, not on ethnic basis.”
What Nigerian govt must urgently do
According to the Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, the Nigerian authorities must urgently address the escalating cases of mob violence by upholding and protecting the rights of everyone in the country to life and freedom from torture.
“Government must ensure prompt, thorough, impartial, independent, transparent and effective investigation of cases of mob violence and bring those suspected to be responsible to justice in fair trials. Authorities should also take appropriate and effective measures to prevent cases of mob violence across the country and ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims.”
He, however, added that the police must be adequately equipped to respond to mob violence.
