IMPUNITY Worries in Nigeria over spread of jungle justice
By Anthony Maliki, John Chuks Azu, Abbas Jimoh (Abuja) & Eugene Agha (Lagos)
The Lagos State Police Command last week arrested 33 persons in connection with recent mob actions leading to the death of some suspected kidnappers in cases of jungle justices that is fast becoming a fad across the country.
The state’s commissioner of police, Fatai Owoseni, said the suspects have no justification for killing people without recourse to the law. According to him, one of the incidences happened around a canal at Obadeyi bus-stop along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on August 8 when a mob was trying to lynch suspects.
He noted that when the policemen were trying to rescue the alleged suspects, the crowd descended on them, beat and threw stones at them and in the process, properties were vandalised and 33 suspects were picked up at the scene.
Another incident occurred at the Ile-Zik area of the old Lagos-Abeokuta expressway where a mob set ablaze two suspected members of the gang of suspected ritualist gang.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that before the Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Assistant Commissioner of Police Tunji Disu arrived at the scene, the mob had burnt the suspects with their charred remains left by the roadside.
Besides, Owoseni pointed out that last weekend, a mob burnt two persons to death in Mushin and Agbado Ijaiye for alleged child abduction and phone theft.
The suspected kidnapper was killed at Cele in Agbado Ijaye; while the suspected phone thief was lynched in Mushin. He allegedly stole a Samsung Galaxy phone valued at N45, 000.
However, the commissioner advised the public to report any suspicious happening in their areas and assured of the renewed commitment of the police and other security agencies to prompt response to such reports.
Few weeks ago, a mob in Onitsha, Anambra State, lynched a policeman alleged to caused the death of a pregnant woman and two of her children.
Eyewitnesses say the policeman was part of a team at a check-point who impromptu stopped a truck that veered off the road and ran over the family.
Also, the Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested two persons in connections with a mob action that led to the death of a soldier, Lance Corporal Ayuba Ali, last Monday in Akwanga.
It was gathered that trouble started when the soldier, who was in mufti hit a hawker with his motor bike around Angwan Affi around and efforts to appease the hawker was abortive.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kennedy Idrisu, who confirmed the incidence, the mob rejected the plea and the soldier on a Pass from Maiduguri was beaten to coma and later died in a hospital.
The police spokesman said investigations had begun to arrest perpetrators of the act.
Due to the increasing spades of mob actions across the country, the Senate promised to accelerate the passage of bills aimed to mitigate jungle justice and hate speeches.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, stated that the anti-Jungle Justice Bill which is sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye, (APC-Kogi), would help to curtail, protect and prohibit Nigerians from meting out extra-judicial justice to perceived offenders without recourse to statutory legal channels.
The statement made references to many cases of extrajudicial executions across the nation including the case of the “Aluu Four” in Port Harcourt.
According to the statement, there cannot be a situation where people feel that they can take the law into their hands and must put in place careful stopgaps and penal measures to protect the sanctity.
The Senate President also stated that the Judiciary and the Rules and Business Committees of the Senate would work to ensure that anti-Jungle Justice Bill is quickly passed and sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
However, a lawyer, Niyi Akintola (SAN) said cases of jungle justice showed a vote of no confidence of Nigeria’s criminal justice administration.
According to him, after people are arrested for crime and months later the police say investigation is still conducted and people are aware that the person actually committed the crime.
He gave an instance, why the arrested kidnapper Evans is not before the court of law by now. However, Etigwe UWA (SAN) simply said people are beginning to get angry because there is no money.
But Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) noted that jungle justice is a result of the failure of leadership to tackle the micro-economic condition of Nigerians.
The Convener of the Good Governance Team (GGT) Tunde Salman said jungle justice is very dangerous and should be discouraged.
He said that it was better to hand over suspects to the law enforcement agents when appended noting that it was better for the guilty to go free than to punish an innocent person.