Yesterday at the Senate, the anti-jungle justice bill passed second reading. The bill titled “Bill for an Act for the prohibition and protection of persons from lynching, mob action and extrajudicial executions and other related offences 2016” was sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi West constituency.

The passage of the bill is long overdue as it was widely called for by Nigerians and the international community in 2012 when four students of the University of Port Harcourt were lynched by a mob because a woman who was indebted to one of the boys raised a false alarm when they visited her to request the money. From all the stories that emerged from that unfortunate incident, it was clear that the boys were innocent, but the Aluu village mob did not spare them.

Ugonna Obuzor, Chiadika Biringa, Lloyd Toku, and Tekena Elkanah were chased through the community, beaten, stoned and stripped, then the worst happened. Car tyres were hung on their necks and they were bathed in petrol ready to be burnt. Tekena’s sister who was at the scene recounted how she screamed their innocence but was overwhelmed by the thronging mob, she called the police and family members for rescue but upon their arrival, the deed had been done. The four friends were burnt to death in one of the most gruesome and absurd murders of our time. And it was all recorded on video. Not one gory detail was left out.

It’s been four years since #Aluu4. Nineteen people were arrested at the time, but not one person has been prosecuted. Justice has been delayed for these young men and mob actions are still a part of the Nigerian society. As news stories, tweets and reactions flew about yesterday when 3 young men were burnt alive in an alleged case of kidnapping in the Ezelu Okwe community of Imo state. The source who spoke to newsmen said the men were set ablaze by community youth “without wasting time”. The same source added that the mob action would act “as a deterrent to others who may want to engage in such acts in the future”.

This is another Nigerian community that is not sorry about taking the lives of people who are innocent until, at least, proven otherwise. There isn’t much buzz around yesterday’s killings, probably because jungle justice has become so ingrained in the system that we hardly get surprised or the least upset, when such stories are reported.

In July 2016, Deaconess Eunice Elisha, wife of the pastor of a Redeemed Christian Church of God parish in Abuja was brutally murdered by Muslim youth while she went her daily routine of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Kubwa area of Abuja. Her murder remains unsolved till date, despite promises made by the government and security officials to fish out her killers. There are too many cases (including unreported ones) of jungle justice where victims’ families will never ever get answers or closure.

The anti-jungle justice bill should ensure that individuals found guilty of participating in extra-judicial killings are duly punished, these old cases should be revisited and investigated, hopefully this will serve as a “deterrent” to members of communities who are quick to launch malicious attacks on anyone no matter the circumstances.

Tolu

Your pop culture/entertainment go-to. Music head. Wallflower. I do not like to write. On a mission to decipher covfefe.