Paul Orude, Bauchi

Bereaved grandfather of Sunday Ezra, the security man who was lynched over a missing phone in Bauchi, has called on the police to thoroughly investigate the killing and ensure that justice is done to appease restive youths from taking the law into their hands.

The spokesman of the Bauchi State Police Command, Mr Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, confirmed that five suspects have been arrested in connection with Sunday’s death at New Trafford Hotel following serious injuries he sustained from beatings.

Related: Bauchi: Groups demand justice over lynching of security man

83-year-old grandfather Fidelis Jihan Linga, who spoke with Daily Sun at his residence in Anguwan Ngas, Bauchi amid mounting tensions over his grandson’s murder, said justice was the only way out to ensure that angry youths do not react.

He said no one can predict what would happen next should there be any compromise on the part of the authorities, saying ‘that would be a dangerous path to tread with the tension on the ground.’

The octogenarian said: ‘In those days nobody was above the law or greater than the authorities. If something like this happened in the past and police came to investigate, we had confidence that justice would be done. So I want the police to handle this case properly.’

Related News

The bereaved grandfather said that he was not surprised by the unfortunate lynching of his grandson, who was well known to be a law-abiding and peaceful person, provoked widespread anger, lamenting that people who ought to protect him were the very people that turned around to kill him.

‘I was in church when the news reached me that he had been killed. I asked what happened. I was told that he was suspected of stealing a Nokia handset. He said he was not the one. I was told that the manager of the hotel started beating him and other staff joined. They broke his two legs and hands as I was told and he was cut on the head. After beating him they threw him somewhere and covered him with grass. He was later taken to hospital where he died. That is what I learnt.’ the old man narrated.

He said the saddest part of the whole episode was that after killing him, ‘someone suddenly surfaced that he wasn’t the one that stole the handset he was accused of, that this is the handset. I am appealing to the police to do their work properly to ensure that those who carried out this dastardly act must not go scot-free.’

He appealed to youths not to take the law into their hands, especially Ezra’s friends and peers who have been screaming for justice to be done since his lynching.

‘I won’t be happy to bury another corpse again. What has happened has happened. However, a lack of justice can lead to another crime. I won’t be happy. It has happened. But I dare say that the inability to properly handle such cases always leads to people taking laws into their hands…

He described his grandson as a peace-loving person who hardly reacted no matter the provocation. ‘I still don’t believe that my grandson Ezra is dead. He was hard-working, and he has never stolen,’ the grandfather said.