Some residents of Elite road, Oke Lantoro area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Thursday, attacked an unknown man found in their neighbourhood, on the suspicion that he is a kidnapper.
The man was about to be set on fire when the police arrived the scene and took him away, DAILY POST learnt.
It was gathered that the young man was seen loitering around some school children at about 8 a.m. on Thursday.
He became a victim of a mob attack after he was accused of an attempt to kidnap the school children.
After he had been beaten to a pulp by the irate youths, argument then ensued for and against the man’s sanity.
While some said the man was mentally deranged, others held a contrary view as they made attempts to set him aflame.
A passerby, Nasir Alabi, who spoke with our correspondent explained that the man did not look mentally unstable.
“I got there at the point he was about to be beaten; he didn’t look like a mad man.
“It was a pathetic case because people who didn’t know what his offence was also joined the mob for no just reason. I felt so sorry for him because it took the insistence of the police to take him away from the scene where he had already been tied as some youths were insisting on setting him ablaze,” Alabi stated.
Another eyewitness, who identified himself as Habib, noted that the victim was responding to questions earlier with a stable mind, adding that the beating might have affected him mentally.
Habib said, “I felt really pity him, I was shocked because he wasn’t like that when the people started beating him. But when the police was taking him away from that place, I really felt like crying.
“Our people are fond of jungle justice. If not for the police, he might have been set on fire or killed.”
Contacted, the Ogun State police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident, adding that the victim was truly mentally unstable.
He, however, warned that anyone caught in the act of jungle justice will face the full weight of the law.
“Jungle justice is returning in Ogun State and we have been warning our people. Anyone caught in such act will not go unpunished, such person will face the full wrath of the law.
“Recently, we all saw what happened in Oja Odan area of the State, where two suspects were set ablaze. We are really watching, we won’t allow an unlawful act here in Ogun State,” Oyeyemi declared.
