Omoigui Osasogie: Jungle Justice [NEXT]

by Omoigui Osasogie

Jungle Justice is the concept and act of disregarding the rule of law and taking matters into one’s hands; more clearly put, it is the act of handing suspected criminals over to the hands and mercy of an angry mob.

Jungle justice and the mob mentality is still prevalent in the country and it is a sad thing. It started in Nigeria close to a decade ago and still no solution has been procured to it. It is a barbaric act that must be condemned by all. With the increasing rate of jungle justice, it is feared that one would begin to see life as nothing serious. People need to understand that jungle justice won’t reduce the crime rate in the community. It never will. Burning and degrading human beings is an outright violation of human rights. Every criminal in the law court is considered innocent until proven guilty. Two wrongs don’t make a right and it never will.   Most times, jungle justice is always meted out on petty thieves and low-class offenders.  Though some people go far and beyond by the offences they create that it seems like they deserve mob justice and much more, but nobody has the right to take anybody’s life. In some cases, the forces act carelessly towards the issue whenever they’re involved.  Jungle Justice is never an option.

Several cases of Mob justice in Nigeria include:

•The 4 ALUU boys. In the year 2012

•The Female thief beaten to a pulp in Kaduna. Happened in 2014

  • or the Kid that was lynched in Kaduna just some weeks after the ALUU boys incident.

The sad part of these acts is that people often get entertained by it.  People that often take pictures and make videos, I just wonder if not even one person could put a stop to such act.  Perhaps they try but fear for their lives and get weak.  An average Nigerian is a government onto himself.

Remember how the Bakassi Boys entered the scene in the late 90s. After a successful vigilante business in Aba, they were hired by the Mbadinuju Administration to rid Anambra state of hoodlums. In those days, staying out in Onitsha after dark was a death wish, carrying Ghana must go bags was a provocation to either death or amputation of whichever limb closest to the bag, the most notorious crime lords, Derico and Chiejina (legend has it that they were immersed in the power of ‘odeshi’ )were untouchable. They did as they pleased. The arrival of Bakassi Boys (who were christened with a more befitting name Anambra state vigilante services or AVS) into the murky waters of the underworld, however, put paid to their heroics.   The government were not in a hurry to remove them for they felt they were there to teach the public a lesson and brought peace into the community. This is like a cycle. Someone is lynched, there’s

This is like a cycle. Someone is lynched, there’s commotion, cursing, social media drama, the show goes on, life goes on until another person is lynched and the cycle starts all over.

It is a wrong notion of a society without the military that any offence merits death, even without a trial.

This is why the whole mechanism for protection of lives and property and dispensation of criminal justice should be examined urgently. When this is done, with the result that criminals are speedily apprehended and tried, people’s confidence in the system’s capacity to protect them will be restored.


Osagie enjoys copywriting and content marketing. She has keen interest in writing Fashion and Lifestyle topics.

 

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