Abuja’s rising cases of ‘jungle justice’

Continued from previous page foiling a mob justice incidence in Utako on Monday.

A legal practitioner, Abubakar Sani, said jungle justice is a criminal offence.

He said, “If a suspect or anybody is found committing an offence, the only power you have under the law is to apprehend him, if you can and hand him over to appropriate law enforcement agencies.”

He said the position of the law on jungle justice is very clear as anybody caught to have killed out of provocation is liable.

He said catching someone in the act does not justify jungle justice.

“Because you caught him stealing does not justify anybody taking another person’s life, it is jungle justice and it is completely uncivilised and barbaric.

“If you catch your wife committing adultery and you decided to kill the man and your wife, their offense does not justify what you have done. You could be tried for manslaughter instead of murder but know that you have committed a crime nonetheless,” he said.

Sani added that security agencies and stakeholders should increase sensitisation against the lawless behaviour.

“If you have been victim of violent crime before, it does not justify you beating the suspect. We are not living in a jungle, we are civilised people. Apprehend the suspect; take him to the authorities even if the person would be released later,” he said.

While Sani advocated for sensitisation, a resident, Peter Onwe, said police contact numbers should be made available while patrol teams should be stationed at strategic locations to avert such incidents.

He said jungle justice should be discouraged as many lives have been lost to the cruelty of some residents.