As controversies continue to trail
the alleged gruesome murder of a 7-year-old boy for allegedly stealing garri in
Lagos, Kingsley Ughe, General Counsel for Joint Action Aids has given his own
account of the luciferous incident.
The legal practitioner, claimed the
victim and his gang tried to dispossess a woman of her belongings.
According to Ughe in a Facebook post
titled, ‘A Thief and A Frenzied Mob Baying for Blood,’ the victim was a member
of a gang of notorious thieves and not a seven-year-old boy, as widely claimed
in the media..
He explained that the young man met
his nemesis after his gang tried to rob a woman of her belongings, including an
Infinix Note 2 phone, at Augustine Onwualu street, Orile Iganmu, Lagos last
Saturday.
Ughe’s account reead thus;
The true account of the young man
lynched and summarily burnt to death at Orile Iganmu last Saturday speaks of
the uncertainty and brevity of human life in Nigeria. It was Saturday, the 11th
day of November 2016. The venue of this macabre killing orgy was at Augustine
Onwualu Street, Orile Iganmu, Lagos.
A woman, (name withheld) was walking
along the ever busy road of Augustine Onwualu street, Orile Iganmu. She had an
Infinix Hotnote 2 handset with which she was making telephone calls in high
pitched voice, frantically gesticulating in the process. Close by, on the same
street were a gang of 4 notorious thieves, well known in the area for their
dare devilry and viciousness. They were there, waiting, prowling and surveying
the entire scenery for a vulnerable victim to rob and dispossessed of their
valuables as they often do in the past. And successfully too.
“The woman approached. Still talking
on the phone and gesticulating with her free arm. She was immediately spotted
by the very perceptive eyes of this criminal gang. A brief conference amongst
them, she was adjudged a soft target. There was no need for further plans or
careful surveillance. After all they had done this successfully in the past.
More so, their sheer ferocity makes them a sort of feared mobster in the local
vicinity. But it turned out to be a miscalculation. And costly one at that!
“They approached and circled the
woman who was oblivious of her surrounding and the imminent attack on her
person. The robbery attack was swift and very decisive. She was held from
behind by two members of the gang. One of them deftly pruned her hand bag off
her shoulder and the same time attempted to retrieved the telephone with which
she was making calls from her other arm. The last of the gang stood guard,
providing cover for the others.
“They had during their planning
stage misjudged the desperation of a Nigerian woman about to be dispossessed.
The victim reacted swiftly. She let the hand free and held on tenaciously to
her phone. A struggle ensued. The victim plaintively cried out for help. A
motley crowd gathered. The other members of the gang, appropriately appraising
the situation fled the scene. The fourth member was not so lucky. He continued
to engage in an internecine struggle with victim for the phone. In desperation,
he brought out a dagger, and cold blooded stabbed the woman repeatedly in the
chest, stomach and shoulder. There is a proverb, when a strong animal flirts
too much with the trap, he makes his meat available for children to share with
teeth.
“The gathered crowd became enraged
and promptly apprehended the abandoned thief. He was beaten to stupor, Tied up
and set ablaze while the maddening crowd continued to bay for his blood.
“Joint Action Aid was alerted on
Monday when video clips of the dastardly murder went viral on social media. We
reported the yet another resort to “jungle justice” to the Commissioner of
Police, Lagos state. The video clips were carefully analysed and some arrest
made. The six people arrested through our efforts denied criminal culpability
and brought fast talking lawyers.
“More frustrating, the charred
remains of the alleged thief had been removed. The area council and Orile Iganmu
police claimed ignorance of the whereabouts of the corpse. Thus we have a dead
zone situation. No dead body, no witnesses and then, most understandably, an
unwilling complainant still battling for survival from the grievous multiple
stabbing at the hospital. We returned back to the office, again defeated.
Frustrated. And defeated.The rule of law is vanquished again. The rule of the
jungle continues to win triumphantly.
JMK
