5 robbery suspects set ablaze in Calabar

Five suspected armed robbers were set ablaze yesterday by angry residents of adjoining streets of the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) in Calabar, Cross River State. Three of the suspects were said to have been overpowered and killed instantly while two others were caught at different spots in the same neighbourhood where jungle […]

Five suspected armed robbers were set ablaze yesterday by angry residents of adjoining streets of the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) in Calabar, Cross River State.

Three of the suspects were said to have been overpowered and killed instantly while two others were caught at different spots in the same neighbourhood where jungle justice was meted on them. The mob said the gang had terrorised the neighbourhood over time.

A resident, Effiong Gabriel, who witnessed the scenes, said the young men in the area mobilised and disarmed the criminals.

Meanwhile, local private radio stations reported yesterday that there were, at least, four corpses on the lonely but major highways like the Goodluck Jonathan bypass.

When contacted, the Commissioner for Environment in the state, Mr Mike Eraye, said he was not in Calabar but that they have begun evacuation of the bodies.

The spokesperson of the police in the state, Irene Ugbo, said the law did not encourage anyone to lynch any suspect but to hand them over to the police or other security agencies for prosecution, adding that those who willfully killed suspects were offending the law.