By DEBORAH AKPEDE

Stakeholders have expressed worry over the spate of mob killings, saying it posed threats to national security.

Stakeholders, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews on Sunday in Lagos, described the increasing act as ?disturbing.?

Mob justice or jungle justice is the act of individuals taking the law into their own hands by meting out punishment to alleged offenders without due process.

It Is mostly targeted at those accused of theft, where the alleged criminal is publicly humiliated, tortured, stoned, beaten or lynched.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the past six weeks, the country has recorded several cases of mob killings.

On Oct. 1, a man identified as Monday, was beaten to death in Lagos state over alleged cable theft; the mob used copper wire to tie his neck, strangling him to death.

Also, on Oct. 13, in the Agenebode area of Edo, a mob attacked a police station, burnt to death some suspects accused of terrorising the community, set ablaze the police barracks, patrol vans and the Divisional Police Station.

A mob killed a suspect on Oct. 14, for allegedly stealing a motorcycle at Dei-Dei in Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Also, on Nov. 2, a man, Sefilahi Danlami, 19, was lynched over alleged theft at the Panteka Market in the Mpape area of the FCT.

On Oct. 18 in the Issele-Uku area of Delta, a mob hijacked two suspected motorcycle thieves from the custody of police and lynched them; same day in Sagamu area of Ogun, a mob killed a man, John Udoh, 22, for allegedly stealing a motorcycle.

An Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP Augustine Osupayi, 46, was killed on Oct. 19 by a mob in the Agege area of Lagos State, while trying to rescue a driver accused of hitting a motorcyclist.

The mob, unhappy with his intervention, lynched him.

Also, on Nov. 6, a suspected thief was mobbed to death after allegedly attempting to steal from a church at the Modern Market in Makurdi, Benue.

Similarly, on Nov. 9, a suspected burglar was macheted to death by a mob while attempting to commit a crime at Olu-Obasanjo Road in Port Harcourt.

A security expert, Mr Olaniyi Daniel, owner of Premier Guard Security Ltd, affirmed that mob justice posed grave risks to individuals and society.

?The killing of a person for a crime without due process is barbaric and should be condemned.

?If you lynch a person for stealing a phone or motorcycle, you are not innocent. You have committed murder which is even worse than stealing.

?This inhumane trend makes people to think that Nigeria is a lawless country, ? he said.

According to him, some Nigerians especially the unemployed are angry and frustrated, and at any slightest provocation, they can vent their anger on their fellow citizens.

He called on the government and law enforcement agencies to urgently check the growing trend.

?The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other agencies should embark on sensitisation that will inform the public about the consequences of their actions.

?Government at all levels should look into the issue of employment, so as to take jobless youths off the streets and to implement the criminal justice system.

?Police and judiciary need to do more to tackle the menace by putting in place an effective punishment to ensure that culprits were prosecuted which would serve as a deterrent, ? he said.

In the same vein, a Legal Practitioner, Mr Emmanuel Ajayi, said that there was need to place priority on human life.

?The Nigerians constitution provides for the right to life, and it is declared that nobody?s life should be taken.

?Section 315 of the Criminal Code Act says that any person who unlawfully kills another is guilty of an offence called murder,? he said.

He blamed Illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, religion, lack of confidence in the police and judicial system, among others, for the rise.

?People lynched because they think that when suspects are handed over to the police or taken to court, they may buy their freedom and return to society to continue their atrocities.

?But there is no justification for mob action, no amount of loss of trust in the police or judiciary should make people to take the law into their hands.

?Due process must be followed before somebody can be pronounced guilty, this is necessary because a lot of innocent people have lost their lives to jungle justice,? he said.

Ajayi urged the government to wake up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property.

He said government should also reform the police, judiciary and create employment.

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, decried the rising incidents of mob justice.

He cautioned Nigerians against its consequences on criminal justice administration, rule of law and global reputation.

Adejobi, in a statement on Oct. 20 in Abuja, condemned the country?s jungle justice trend, describing it as ?a deplorable and savage behaviour.?

The FPRO said the act had led to the tragic loss of lives and destruction of property across the country.

He said that the inhuman act was a betrayal of justice and due process, undermining the rule of law, fundamental principles and ideals of human rights and justice. (NAN)

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