BY AUGUSTINE AVWODE
Last week, two ugly, blood-curling incidents that border on meting out instant justice or what has been described as ‘jungle justice’ happened in Ondo and Osun states. In both incidents, the victims who were not given the opportunity to defend themselves paid the supreme prize as their accusers clubbed them to death.
Of the two incidents, whereas the one in Ondo State happened on the street where it could be argued that street urchins and hoodlums reign supreme, the other, unbelievably, took place within the precincts of the citadel of learning, a community of supposed refined minds where rights, liberties, and opportunities to defend oneself are taught and learned.
It was at the hugely famous and renowned Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State. A final-year student of the Department of Civil Engineering, Okoli Chizoputam, was killed by supposedly angry students over alleged theft.
Both the university management and the students’ union confirmed the development in separate statements last week.
Reports had it that the deceased, who was said to have returned to the university for a repeat of a few courses he failed, was alleged to have stolen a phone at the Obafemi Awolowo Hall of Residence on the campus. However, instead of reporting him to the university management or leading him before the security department, a crowd of unruly students reportedly lynched him.
The students’ union said the victim was said to have been declared “Brought in Dead (BOD)” at the Emergency Medical Department of the university’s teaching hospital.
Reacting to the development, the university management confirmed that the victim died from a “mob action on the allegation that he stole a phone.”
In a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, the university “condemned, in strong terms, the incidence that led to the death of a part 5 student of the institution,” the statement said.
Olarewaju noted that the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Adebayo Bamire, has set up a committee to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of Okoli.
“In all, I still maintain that instant ‘justice’ by way of mobbing isn’t the way out in any sane society. We admit the justice system is slow and frustrating, self-help can never be alternative for it creates a lawless society”
“The action of the mob, being a violation of the law of the country and of the University regulations, has been reported to the police who have commenced investigations,” he said.
While commiserating with the parents, family and friends of the late Okoli over the unfortunate incident; the university management admonished “the students to desist from taking laws into their hands and to report any criminal activities to the University authorities for immediate action.”
On its own part, the university’s students’ union, also in a statement signed by its President, Olayiwole Festus, condemned the development.
The Students’ Union said the “arrest and investigations of individuals suspected to be connected with the assault of the deceased are being made for consequent legal actions.”
The Union stated that while investigations into the immediate and remote causes of the violent action continued, the activities of the executive council of the Obafemi Awolowo Hall of Residence have been suspended with immediate effect.
It noted that “What has just happened is most inhumane. Justice must be served accordingly irrespective of who is involved. Mob actions are banned and not allowed on the OAU campus,” the union noted.
In the case of the incident in Ondo, a middle-aged driver alleged to be an internet fraudster popularly called ‘Yahoo boys’ had killed some people as a result of reckless driving in Akure, Ondo State on Easter Monday when he rammed into them, crushing them to death.
The 37-year-old driver, who was later identified as Tope Olorunfemi, rammed into some motorcyclists and their passengers between Ijo-Mimo and the Sunday Bus Stop axis of Ijoka, Akure South Local Government of the state.
But sympathizers who rushed to the scene rather descended on the driver after allegedly discovering some fetish items inside the Toyota Camry vehicle. The sympathizers immediately turned into an unruly mob and beat the accused blue and black while waiting for the police to come. He was said to have been beaten with planks and stones, unfortunately, before the arrival of the police, he died.
Even the parents who rushed to the scene, had the Police to thank for escaping with their lives as the mob made to attack them but for the timely intervention of the police operatives who dispersed them.
Confirming the incident, the police spokesperson in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami, however, disclosed that only two people died in the accident and not four as was widely reported.
“No one can confirm if the young man in question is an internet fraudster, there was an accident that led to the death of a motorcyclist, and rather than people around to help, some resolved to Jungle Justice by killing the young man Olorunfemi Tope, aged 35, who drove the vehicle and set the car ablaze.
“But for the quick intervention of the police, his parents too would have been killed, in all 2 people are confirmed dead while 6 others involved and injured in the accident are currently in the hospital. The parent of the driver now late came to the scene but not in the vehicle with their son,” the Police said.
Tope Olorunfemi was later identified as an Uber Driver. According to reports, his mother, simply identified as Mojisola, was there begging the mob to no avail to spare her son. She revealed that the middle age man was only visiting the town because his wife and child were holidaying with her. But all his pleas and entreaties fell on deaf ears as the mob bayed for his blood. As they set the victim ablaze, they made for her but she had the police to thank for being there at that moment.
Like a bad dream, there was nothing the mother could do any longer. Her appeal, like that of every other right-thinking individual, was to call for justice.
“All I want from the government is justice. The government should help me to bring those people who deliberately killed my son to book. Someone said in the video that he was arrogant and that he could not even afford what my son was wearing.
The case should be handled thoroughly. They were saying he was a Yahoo boy because whenever they see a young guy with a big car, they believe he is a Yahoo boy.
“His father is rich; he has a big cocoa company in Akure with four trucks he uses for his cocoa business. The people around there that were saying he had an apartment he rented for some guys who were doing Yahoo for him are lying because he did not stay in Akure. He was based in Lagos and was an Uber driver. They were only saying that because they were envious. He was only a hustler, an Uber driver,” the mother volunteered to reporters.
The Ondo State Police Command Public Relations Officer confirmed that some arrests had been made and that more would still be arrested and they would be charged in court. “Our men are already out to arrest more after which they would be charged.”
ANGRY CONDEMNATIONS TRAIL MOB ACTION
Expectedly, angry condemnations have continued to trail the two incidents. Apart from the call to get the culprits prosecuted, there are calls for orientation by the National Orientation Agency, NOA.
A Human Resources Manager in one of the leading Insurance Companies, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was a need to make the offenders face the full weight of the law and so serve as a deterrent to others. He also advocated that every grown-up man should consider a life insurance policy. He argued that if the late Uber driver had an insurance policy, his family would certainly have something to look forward to.
“I read the sad story and I could barely contain my anger. It is so bad and nobody should be subjected to such lawless treatment. Our laws presume that an accused is innocent until pronounced guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
“I am looking forward to when those blokes would have their day in court. It is blood for blood. They cannot so mercilessly kill one person and hope to be forgiven by the law. Let them go and prove that yes, he was a fraudster.
“Let me just use this opportunity to appeal to all men, young or above forty to think of a life policy. You see, most people only think of the premium they would pay, nobody wants to think of eventuality. And it is the eventuality that is the essence of insurance. Anything can happen at any bloody time. For the sake of your loved ones, please get a policy.
“Then, there is this agency that I think no longer exists. I mean, how do people collect salaries on monthly basis without working? The National Orientation Agency has a lot of work to do, they should do it. Many people are not aware of their duties and responsibilities. NOA should wake up and work. Nobody has the right to kill and take the life of another under any circumstances. Look at the OAU guy, after five years; he was just killed by some unreasonable mob in a supposed civilized environment. It is very bad,” he submitted.
Also reacting on his Twitter handle, Journalist, Media Executive, and Communication expert, Semiu Okanlawon, wrote on his verified handle @sokanlawon that instant justice by way of mobbing should not be the way out. He added that self-help can never be an alternative in that it creates a lawless society.
“I have seen the video of the mad mob that descended on the boy who ran over 4 persons in Akure yesterday and beaten till he joined those he killed with his alleged reckless driving after which he was suspected to also be involved in fetish things associated with internet fraud.
“In all, I still maintain that instant ‘justice’ by way of mobbing isn’t the way out in any sane society. We admit the justice system is slow and frustrating, self help can never be alternative for it creates a lawless society. I feel for the relatives of those killed and the unlucky.”
Also reacting, a legal practitioner, Ayo Alade, said there was a need for the government to urgently look into the issue of jungle justice in the country and re-orientate the people on the menace.
He said, “We are not in an animal kingdom; this kind of thing should not be happening where sane people are living. We have security agencies in the town; why didn’t they hand him over to the police and let the law take its full course if they suspected him to be a Yahoo boy? Apart from that, I was not at the scene of the incident but all the videos I saw on the Internet, I didn’t see any incriminating fetish material they said they found in the car that warranted the lynching and destruction of the vehicle.”
A public affairs analyst, Isa Bahiru, blamed the police and the judicial system for losing the trust of the people.
According to him, people know that handing over suspected criminals to law enforcement agents may not yield any meaningful results as many suspects have been released without trial.
“I totally detest jungle justice because in many cases, innocent souls always pay for it but the Nigerian people resort to jungle justice because they don’t have trust in our police. They know if the suspected criminals are handed over to the police, sooner or later, the criminals will be set free and justice won’t be achieved.
“I read the sad story and I could barely contain my anger. It is so bad and nobody should be subjected to such lawless treatment. Our laws presume that an accused is innocent until pronounced guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction”
“All these can’t be happening in a sane clime. Let our government reform our police and our judicial system. If the police had arrived at the scene on time, the victim would have been rescued and if the people had trust in the system, they wouldn’t have mobbed the victim. However, I will call on the police to fish out the perpetrators of the jungle justice.”
A security expert, Larry Osagede, of Frontline Security called on the government and law enforcement agencies to urgently check the growing trend of mob killings in the country.
Osagede said public extrajudicial killings had become the order of the day across the country. He said that the menace needed to be addressed urgently as the killing of a person for a crime without recourse to law enforcement officers was not acceptable in any given society.
Osagede recalled the incident of an alleged theft of N2,000 watermelon in Bauchi that led to his being killed and that of a 22-year-old man, who was set ablaze in Calabar on April 9 for allegedly stealing an Android phone.
“It is a disturbing situation that Nigerians are resorting to jungle justice, killing people because of simple or minor crimes.
“Those who engage in lynching are not innocent; some of them are also criminals; If you lynch a person for stealing a bike, your crime is even worse because you have committed murder.”
He blamed misdirected emotional outbursts for the growing trend of jungle justice.
“A lot of Nigerians are angry, especially the jobless ones. They feel that in any situation they can vent their anger on their fellow citizens.”
He said that the police and judiciary needed to do more to tackle the growing menace, such as putting in place an effective punishment system to ensure that those who engaged in such crimes are made to face the wrath of the law.
“One beautiful thing punishment does is that it serves as a deterrent. If you don’t punish people, you will not flourish.
If we have a criminal justice system where the perpetrators are taken to court, tried, and jailed, possibly given life sentence or execution as the case may be, then the deadly act will be mitigated,” he said.
It is time for the government of the day, our lawmakers, and security agencies to make it abundantly clear to all hot-headed or hot-blooded individuals that the menace of jungle justice has no place in Nigerian society.
