THE resort to jungle justice is on the rise in the country. The latest incident involved a young boy of indeterminate age who was lynched somewhere in Lagos State recently. According to some accounts, the young boy stole garri (a cassava staple), upon which his captors set him ablaze.
Another account said that the victim was part of a notorious terror group tormenting a neighborhood. The picture of the lynching has been trending on the social media for some time now.
Whatever his crime, the willful murder of the boy by a baying mob cannot be excused or justified for any reason. Although the rising wave of jungle justice suggests a growing loss of confidence in the ability of law enforcement agencies and the courts to keep criminals in check, the extra-judicial killing of criminals is not acceptable in any decent society.
To be sure, the resort to jungle justice has been with us in this country for many years. But, whatever the reasons for it, it is repugnant. The summary trial, sentencing and execution of death sentences on suspected criminals by mobsters are+ reprehensible. Nigerians should not take the law into their own hands for any reason. Lynching should be discouraged by every means possible. It is anathema to the law and any society that wants to be seen as guided by the rule of law should not tolerate it.
In fact, lynching speaks volumes of the level of development of the country. Have Nigerians lost it so much that they can no longer abide by the rule of law in dealing with suspected criminals? Where are the social and conflict resolution mechanisms for which all responsible societies are noted? Have we, as a people, completely lost faith in our law enforcement agencies that we would rather arrest, try, judge and execute criminals on our own? Where are the police when citizens are being killed? This resort to jungle justice should worry the police. Nigerians should not be allowed to adopt self-help in dealing with criminals.
It is instructive that, in the latest lynching incident, the police have not been able to come up with a definitive account of what truly transpired. They initially denied that such an incident took place, and eventually came up with conflicting details of the incident, including the location. It is disheartening that the victim was killed in the streets in broad daylight, with no security officials in sight to save him. But for the social media, perhaps no one would have known of the incident. It was all very embarrassing and shameful. Life is very important and should not be trifled with. In the case of this unknown young man, his corpse should be fished out from his unmarked grave and given a proper burial. The perpetrators of the heinous crime must be fished out and the appropriate sanctions visited on them.
Whatever was the young victim’s offence, the law should have been allowed to take its course. By resorting to jungle justice, the perpetrators challenged our collective sense of justice and civilization and that should not be condoned.
This incident and many other recent ones should not be swept under the carpet as we are wont to do. We urge a proper investigation and closure of the matter so that some healing and comfort can be brought to his family and our bruised sensibilities. No society that wants to attain greatness and respect in the comity of nations can afford to continue on this negative path.
We urge the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, to see this particular lynching and all others in the country as a challenge, and resolve it. Let them quickly do the needful and redeem the image of the very important institution they represent on the problem of jungle justice in the country.