A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Saturday, called for an effective policing system and efficient legal system to curb cases of jungle justice which are becoming ubiquitous in Nigeria.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said with an effective policing and responsive judicial system, the masses would have the faith of getting justice from the system and turn away from jungle justice.

The group recalled and condemned the killing of a young man, Temitope Olorunfemi, who was lynched by a mob in Akure, Ondo State, for allegedly being a suspected internet fraudster and a ritualist.

It would be recalled that on Monday, April 10, the deceased was killed after he was accused of crushing at least one person to death along Ijoka road and fetish items were said to have been found in his car. But the deceased’s mom explained that her 25-year-old son was a cabbie and had been gifted the car by his dad.

Last year, a mob of Islamist fundamentals lynched Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, on the school campus.

Also, in 2022, a mob of Okada riders lynched a young man, simply identified as David and burnt him to death over a misunderstanding that ensued because of N100 balance with a commercial motorcyclist.

Similarly, a suspected motorcycle thief was set ablaze at the Irete market in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State.

In the same year, two suspected robbers were lynched by a mob along the Onitsha-Owerri Road, Anambra State. A mob also lynched a suspected kidnapper whose gang members abandoned along Obosi Road, Awada near Onitsha, Anambra State.

In February 2019, an angry mob lynched and burnt to death a suspected armed robber who was among a gang of seven that invaded Eziama area in Aba North LGA.

According to a media report, at least 158 Nigerians have been killed through jungle justice between January 2021 and June 2022.

HURIWA's statement partly read: “There is a paramount need to end jungle justice by building an effective and efficient Police that would be capable of enforcing the law and preventing people from taking the law into their hands.

“The policing and judicial systems must cease to be cash-and-carry and administer justice in a fair manner, in order to regain the trust of the people, especially on criminal matters.