By Peter Dansu Tension gripped Ibrahim Kashim Road in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Tuesday when a suspected motorcycle thief met a ...
By Peter Dansu
Tension gripped Ibrahim Kashim Road in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Tuesday when a suspected motorcycle thief met a gruesome end after being set ablaze by an angry mob.
According to eyewitnesses, the drama began when two men hired a commercial motorcyclist, popularly known as an okada rider, to convey them to the Railway Quarters. Unknown to the rider, the passengers were working with an accomplice who had strategically positioned himself at the drop-off point.
One witness, Andrew Tergu, recounted that as soon as the passengers disembarked, their waiting gang member approached the unsuspecting rider under the guise of paying the fare. Instead, he pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed the rider multiple times.
“As the rider fell and cried for help, the three of them quickly mounted the motorcycle to escape,” Tergu said. “But luck ran out when the last man on the bike slipped off. People immediately pounced on him, dragged him to the main road, and set him on fire.”
By the time reporters arrived at the scene, personnel of the Benue State Sanitation Agency, alongside police officers, were already clearing the remains of the suspect.
Confirming the incident, the state police spokesperson, SP Udeme Edet, revealed that the suspect had only recently been released from the Makurdi Correctional Centre, where he served time for a similar crime.
“Immediately we received the report, officers were deployed, but before they could intervene, the mob had already set the suspect ablaze. Our findings show he had just completed a jail term for the same offence,” Edet stated.
While condemning the mob action, the police spokesperson warned that the command would no longer tolerate acts of jungle justice, stressing that citizens must always allow law enforcement agencies to handle criminal matters.
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