Lagos Mob Killed Innocent Man Suspected To Be Thief And Kidnapper

A man, accused of being a thief and a child kidnapper, who was lynched in Mile 12 Area of Ketu, Lagos, western Nigeria, last Thursday night, was actually the landlord’s son, police said at the weekend.  
   
Police sources at Alapere said the landlord’s son had been out of the country for 25 years and had just arrived his father’s house located at 3, Fasanya Street, Mile 12, Ketu, when the tragic incident occurred.
The victim had travelled by sea for about three days and had arrived Nigeria unkempt, neighbours said. He was described as a madman because of his looks, witnesses said.
Once in Nigeria, the man went to Fadare Street in Mile 12 area of Ketu where his mother used to live in a house she had built.

But he was informed his mother had died about a year ago. He proceeded to Fasanya Street in the same area where his father used to live also.
His father had also passed on. He was also a landlord. It seemed father and mother were separated.
It was learnt that while the mother was a Nigerian from Ijebu in Ogun State, the father was said to be either from Cameroon or Guinea Bissau.
When the man left his late mother’s house and went to his father’s house, the tenants of the house did not know him, and as he insisted that he was the landlord’s son, one woman raised the alarm, shouting “thief, kidnapper”.
With communication issues involved and because he looked unkempt, the man was described as a mad person.
 
He was arrested by neighbours who began beating him while shouting “thief, kidnapper”.
Those who did not know what transpired joined and began beating him as well with sticks and bottles.
The man collapsed but the mob continued beating him until he died.
Before the police moved in, the man had died. It was only later that they realised that the man they had just killed was neither a kidnapper nor a thief but the landlord’s son.
Police came back and arrested everyone in the compound located at 3, Fasanya Street, Mile 12.
When our team visited the compound at the weekend, it was empty. Commenting on the incident, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, said mob killing or jungle justice is illegal and unconstitutional.
She said it is a crime and those who are involved in it are treated like murderers.
“People do not have the right to kill a suspect,” Braide said.
“It is unconstitutional and we frown at it. People must always involve the police.
They do not have the right beat or kill anyone for whatever reason,” she said.
The suspects are being detained at Alapare Police Station in Ketu area of Lagos.
Cops are yet to confirm the identity of the victim.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/64423.html


READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/64423.html

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/64423.html