The Anti-Jungle Justice bill

The Senate recently directed its committee on Judiciary to urgently accelerate the passage of the Anti-Jungle Justice bill which is before it. This resolution followed a motion titled “Condemning the rising cases of jungle justice in the country” sponsored by Senator Gbenga Ashafa and the Senate Leader Ali Ndume, which lamented that jungle justice was […]

The Senate recently directed its committee on Judiciary to urgently accelerate the passage of the Anti-Jungle Justice bill which is before it. This resolution followed a motion titled “Condemning the rising cases of jungle justice in the country” sponsored by Senator Gbenga Ashafa and the Senate Leader Ali Ndume, which lamented that jungle justice was on the increase in Nigeria and needed to be stopped.

We cannot agree more with the Senate on this matter even though the rising cases of mob justice, as disturbing as it is, have been with us for a long time. The growing culture of extreme hate and disregard for human life, coupled with institutional lethargy, have added up to aggravate the problem.

Mob justice has become a dangerous aspect of our societal life. Religious extremists kill those they assume had blasphemed against their religion. The recent case of Mrs Bridget Agbahime who was killed in July 2016 by an angry mob in Kano on allegations of blasphemy easily comes to mind. There was a similar case of lynching in Kontagora, Niger State. Within the last few months, many other cases of jungle justice in the country have been worrisome and many of such occurrences may not have been officially reported, going by the nature and circumstances surrounding the criminality.

Most significantly we cannot fail to recall the barbaric and gruesome murder of a young man that was recently killed in Lagos over alleged theft. Eye-witnesses said a mob at the Alafia Bus-stop in the Orile area, Lagos had caught a youth, whose age was later disclosed to be between 20 and 25, accusing him of stealing garri. He was beaten to a pulp and set ablaze by the mob. We would not also forget so soon the gruesome murder of four undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State by a mob at Aluu on the allegation that they were armed robbers, an action that received widespread condemnation. It was later found out that the slain victims were innocent but that their ordeal was simply as a result of the mischievous action of a debtor, who simply wanted to get rid of his creditors. The sad thing is that those criminals and religious zealots, even when they are identified, often go unpunished. Our religious and political leaders hardly speak out against these crimes, and their silence could be construed or misconstrued as acquiescing in them. 

The criminal justice system is sadly “toothless” in crimes of this nature. We urge the Nigeria Police to immediately ensure that they fish out all perpetrators of the barbarism and make sure they are brought to book. The police and other security agencies must live up to their responsibilities to protect Nigerians from acts of jungle justice. Besides that, the Attorney General of the Federation and the state Attorneys General are advised to show greater sense of duty. Furthermore, there are ways by which citizens can contribute to the fight against crime.  One such way is for them to be aware of activities in their immediate environment.  They should report, promptly, any suspicious characters or activities to the law enforcement agents.  Another way of playing a part in controlling crime is that they too can arrest a criminal, deploying reasonable force in the process if necessary. This will always depend on the nature and circumstances of the crime they are confronted with. The now celebrated practice of setting a suspect ablaze, even when such a suspect could easily have been apprehended and handed over to the police, must not be allowed to continue in 21st century Nigeria.  It is barbaric, and those who take the law into their own hands also commit an offence and should be punished in order to serve as a warning to other would-be administrators of jungle justice.