The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has warned against rising cases of jungle justice, describing it as a ‘travesty of justice.’
The warning comes after the killing of two suspected thieves, who allegedly robbed a Point of Sales (POS) operator at Ikot Oku Ikono, Uyo, the state capital.
The two suspects met their waterloo as their getaway motorcycle refused to start, making it easy for youths to apprehend them and set them ablaze before police operatives arrived at the scene.
The state Commissioner of Police, CP Andrew Amiengheme, through a statement signed by the command Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko Macdon, frowned at instances of people taking laws in their hands without handing over suspects to relevant authorities.
He noted that such could lead to the killing of innocent persons, recalling the incident of a nursing mother of a two-week-old baby, who was falsely accused of stealing N2000 at the popular Urua Okpokpo Market, Uyo.
The lady was gruesomely beaten to death by the youths but her accuser, a garri seller, later found the money where she hid it inside a heap of garri.
The commissioner however ordered the arrest of perpetrators of jungle justice in the state.
The statement read in part, “The Commissioner of Police Akwa Ibom State, CP AMIENGHEME ANDREW, psc(+), fdc has decried the incessant unnecessary killings of perceived perpetrators of crimes in the State.
“Such acts are a travesty of justice, capable of detailing public order and are totally unacceptable as it has no place in our criminal justice administration. For the avoidance of doubt, the rights to life and fair hearing are enshrined in Chapter four of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and are inalienable rights, hence, should be respected by all at all times.
“A few months back, the social media was agog with the news that an innocent Woman was wrongly tortured to death, leaving her two weeks old baby helpless on a false allegation that she stole N2,000 at the popular Urua Okpokpo Market.
“Only last week, at Ebong Essien by Ikpa Road, a young man was lynched because of an allegation that he stole. Two days back, December 8th, 2021, two young men, alleged to have attempted robbing a POS attendant at Ikot Oku Ikono, Close to the timber market, just after the flyover were killed and burnt by an angry mob. This trend, the Commissioner of Police notes is totally unacceptable. He has therefore ordered that perpetrators of such acts be apprehended and made to face justice.
“The Command wishes to state that it is committed to prosecuting any criminal arrested and handed over to her, and is calling on youths to desist from taking laws into their hands whenever incidents of such nature happen or are willing to face the legal consequences thereafter.”
