EBONKA, TATAOBUZUOGWU CONDEMNS JUNGLE JUSTICE ON THIRD MOTORCYCLE THIEVES AS 3 BURNT ALIVE WITHIN A WEEK
By Patrick Gbuchanye
The Chairmen of Ika North East and Ika South LGAs Hon. Barrister Victor Ebonka and Evang. Sunny Tataobuzuogwu, have both condemned the recurring lynching of suspected motorcycle thieves in one week.
Both chairmen who described the act as barbaric and inimical to the laws governing our dear country, stated that Ika people are not known for resorting to taking someone’s life as punishment for criminality. They both appealed to residents to desist from mob attacks.
According to them, “We are sad over the incessant motorcycle theft in Ika nation because we understand the enduring pains victims pass through especially now that prices of motorcycles have gone up.
“We are appealing to our youths to refrain from taking laws into their hands by not killing suspects apprehended for crime in such a dehumanizing and unlawful manner. We warn that anyone caught in the act of jungle justice will be made to face the wrath of the law”.
Both chairmen used the opportunity to call on youths who have taken criminality as business to repent and embrace any of the government skill acquisition programs to engage themselves meaningfully.
The third reported case of jungle justice occurred close to Owa- Alero General Hospital, at about 11 p.m., in Ika North East Local Government where an unidentified suspected motorcycle thief was burnt alive on Saturday, July 29, 2023. We gathered that one of the thieves escaped in the process of attacking the Okada rider that was conveying them. However, a shout for help by the Okada rider who was hit on the head alerted residents in the area who were still awake to rescue him and apprehended one of them who was immediately set ablaze.
Earlier, two suspected motorcycle thieves who were also burnt alive met their bitter end in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area when the first suspect whose identity is yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report was burnt along Imudia Street before Arimokwu Street on Saturday, July 22, 2023, after a failed attempt to steal a motorcycle.
The second suspect, an Idumu-ebor, Owa-Alero born, Onuwa Lucky Alabi was apprehended on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, along the New Benin/Asaba Expressway in Agbor.
An eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity said Onuwa had been on the run for motorcycle theft but luck ran out on him when he met the owner of the motorcycle who demanded his motorcycle and he confessed that it is in the possession of his accomplice, Odinga, a native of Idumuesah who lives in Owa-Alero.
Meanwhile, Onuwa who was described as very notorious could not go scot-free as the angry mob gave him the beating of his life and thereafter set him ablaze. Angry residents of Agbor and Boji-Boji Owa have in recent times resulted in extra-judicial killing of anyone caught stealing motorcycle. Some, who spoke on condition of anonymity when interviewed, stated that they have lost confidence in the police to handle such matters as those arrested over stolen motorcycles usually go scot-free, stating that burning the thieves alive serves them right saying that nobody should pity them. They stated that the pain of losing motorcycle to thief in these hard time is unbearable. They added that some of the victims of motorcycle theft are either maimed or killed. They further stated that the motorcycle thieves are reaping what they have not sown.
Also, another reported case of motorcycle theft at Nni-Ugboh in Owa-Ekei had one of the hands of the hoodlum involved cut off as a reminder to say no to criminality.