Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun has condemned the rising cases of jungle justice, especially on police personnel, across the country.
The IGP also ordered Deputy Inspector-General of Police Force Criminal Investigation Department to investigate the incidents and bring all persons found culpable to face the full wrath of the law.
Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, quoted the IGP as giving the directive in a statement Sunday in Abuja.
The statement specifically highlighted the Edo state scenario where a mob attacked a police station and burnt some suspects to death on October 13.
“In view of the recent spate of jungle justice in some parts of the country, the Nigeria Police Force has condemned the dangerous and abhorrent trend and cautioned the general public on the consequences of such on our criminal justice administration, the rule of law and the global reputation of our dear country.
“In the same instance, the Police specifically condemn the act of arson which led to the death by burning of some suspects in police custody, and the subsequent setting ablaze of police barracks, patrol vans and the Divisional Police Station in Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State on Sunday, October 13, 2024.
“In the above case, members of the public alleged that the police were trying to pervert justice by taking into custody some suspected kidnappers and armed robbers who have been accused of terrorizing the people of the community in Edo State. The main suspect was arrested and almost lynched by the community members before he was rescued by the police.
“His arrest led the police to arrest three additional suspects. The rescue and detention of the suspects didn’t go down well with the community members, who later mobilized in large numbers and attacked the police station, killed the suspects by burning, and scorched down the station and properties therein.
“The erroneous perception of the community members that the police would set free the suspects was wrong and quite unfair, as the police never intended to pervert justice in the case, more so that they have through painstaking investigation arrested three other suspects fingered in the criminal act,” the statement said.
Citing another scenario in Agege, Lagos state, Adejobi said some mobs attacked a driver for accidentally knocking down a driver on Saturday, 19, October, 2024.
Adejobi said: “In another development, a police team trying to prevent the execution of jungle justice was gruesomely attacked, which led to the killing of a police officer, ASP Augustine Osupayi, attached to the Lagos State Command, by a group of violent mob on Saturday, 19th of October 2024, in Agege, Lagos State.
“The police team had raced down to the rescue of a driver who was alleged to have accidentally knocked down a motorcycle rider to death. The group of motorcycle riders pounced on the driver, who was eventually rescued by the police.
“The rescue didn’t go down well with the riders who descended on the police team and unfortunately killed the ASP instantly. These are very few cases out of many incidents recorded across the country.”
While condoling with the victims’ families, Egbetokun ordered the DIG FCID to fish out the culprits and appropriate sanction in line with the law.
He said: “The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM., sympathizes with the families of the departed souls and directs the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the FCID to investigate these incidents and bring all persons found wanting to face the full wrath of the law.”
…Edo killing
Meanwhile, the Edo state police command Sunday confirmed the killing of an inspector, during an attack by gunmen on the quarry workers in Ihivbe-Ogben area of the state.
Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Moses Yamu, confirmed the killing to newsmen in Benin City.
The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the officer was attached to the quarry situated in Owan East local government of the state.
Sources told NAN that the gunmen Thursday ambushed the quarry workers while going to their base camp in the evening and opened fire on them.
According to him, one officer was killed, while an expatriate and another police officer attached to the expatriate were injured.
“The injured expatriate and the police officer are receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital,” a source said.
Yamu, however, said that investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“The police in collaboration with the military are on the trail of the suspects,” the police spokesperson said.
…Cult war claims 20
In a related development, about 20 persons were Sunday gunned down in a suspected cult war around Nibo and Okpuno, Awka South local government area of Anambra state.
Blueprint gathered that eight persons were killed in Nibo community, and three others in Nodu Village in Okpuno, also in Awka South.
According to sources, four other persons who sustained varying degrees of injuries during the attack died on their way to Abagana, Njikoka local government area of the state.
It was learnt that trouble started around 1.00pm during the Nibo community’s celebration of the Onwa Asaa festival, when gunmen in Hilux vehicle drove into the venue of the event and opened fire.
The development caused a momentary panic and chaos as people fled in different directions to escape the violence.
“At Oye Nwochichi by Nibo Old Maternity, a brown colour Lexus 300 truck/jeep pulled up with 5 boys inside and gunned down 7 or 8 men and drove down to Eke Nibo immediately and smoked down another 4 or 5 Niggas,” a source alleged.
But the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident in a statement, failed to provide figures and other details of the victims.
Ikenga, while describing it as suspected clash between rival cults, hinted that the Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Obono Itam, has ordered the immediate deployment of some operatives to the affected area for necessary action.
He said preliminary reports on the incidents were still sketchy, and therefore called on witnesses to come forward with information that could help identify the perpetrators for possible arrest.