There was tension at the Dei-Dei Junction, off the Zuba-Kubwa Expressway in Abuja following an allegation that vigilantes in the community tortured a suspect, Abdullahi Maidawa (24), to death.

The victim, who was selling drugs in a kiosk by the junction, was said to have been arrested by the local security men on Tuesday night over a missing mobile phone.

A brother of the victim, Ismaila Kutama, told City & Crime yesterday that Maidawa was arrested along with one of his neighbours, who allegedly confessed to the vigilantes that he stole the phone and handed it over to Maidawa.

Kutama alleged that one of the vigilantes started torturing his brother from 8pm on Tuesday when he insisted that he was innocent.

He said, “We went to the office on Wednesday morning to find out about him, only to be told by the security men that our brother was taken to an undisclosed hospital, but his remains were later found in the office.”

It was further learnt that the suspected vigilante who tortured Maidawa to death was arrested by the police and that while in their custody he reportedly hit two of them in an attempt to escape.

It was further learnt that the vigilante was moved to the Zuba Police Division thereafter along with his colleague, the suspected phone thief, as well as the phone’s owner.

Meanwhile, residents of the community, while protesting Maidawa’s death on Wednesday, pulled down the vigilante office and attempted to move to another vigilante office with the same mission before they were dispersed by the police.

A funeral prayer was held for the deceased on Thursday morning before his remains were taken to his hometown, Kutama, in Gwarzo LGA of Kano State.

Josephine Adeh, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, did not respond to message sent to her on the incident up to the time of filing the report yesterday.(Daily Trust)