By BLESSING IBEGBU

The Esu-Karu, Luka Panya, and security agents, on Wednesday warned residents of Karu, in Nasarawa State against taking laws into their hands (jungle justice).

Panya said this at a meeting with security agents, traditional rulers, community, religious, motorcycle and tricycle leaders, following the recent bizarre story of stolen genitals.

He said that In the last three weeks, there had been incidents of stolen genitals around Karu, Masaka, Ado, New Nyanya and the latest in Sharp Corner, where the suspect and his car were burnt.

According to him, it is my duty to ensure that my subjects are safe because the essence of leadership is to ensure that the community is peaceful and attain required development.

“We have a duty to talk to our people so we know how to manage these issues of stolen genitals, so we don’t take laws into our hands.

“I urge every representative, especially the chairman of motorcycle/tricycle riders association to pass the message to their people.

“There is no society that is free of crime, but there are ways to handle these through security agencies, not jungle justice, because anybody can be affected,” the Esu said.

In his contribution, Prince Jatau, a security agent called for sensitisation of the rural populace.

Jatau warned that no act of jungle justice would be tolerated any longer in the community.

He said that Karu was a sensitive town and close to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and therefore, expressed his fears that if the present situation was not well managed, could escalate to religious or ethnic crises.

Jatau advised the people to be careful in raising false alarm as anyone seen at the scene where jungle justice was being carried out, would be charged to court too.

Similarly, Francis Obigwa, the Police Area Commander in charge of Karu, said that the issue of alleged stolen genitals, which had been proven to be untrue medically, was becoming overwhelming.

According to Obigwa, there have been ongoing arrests as regards the case and both the suspect and victims will be charged to court.

He said that some persons were now capitalising on the trending issue to commit other manner of crimes, adding that the police was always on alert to deal with such individuals.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Motorcycle/Tricycle Riders Association, Bahago Na’Allah, had assured the Esu and the security agents that the association was working toward ensuring that its members conducted themselves in an orderly manner by not taking the law into their hands. (NAN)

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