Last weekSunday, I was in the village. I attended the 8.00 am Mass that
day. As Iarrived the Church at exactly 7.55am, I saw a throng of
club-wielding youthsand angry youngsters marching along the road adjacent
to the Church. Oninstinct, I went closer to find out what was going on.
The angry youths mixedwith other attendants of the Church to form a very
huge crowd that surged allover the Church compound, to the road. Getting
closer, I saw three young men,stripped completely naked being marched down
probably to the market squarenearby. I was confused. I asked what the
issue was and was told the three youthswere caught stealing various goods
from houses and shops in the community theprevious night. I saw the three
culprits who were from the community but didn’trecognize any of them. The
culprits were beaten and shoved from one spot to theother by the youths
who were variously armed with clubs, matches, sticks andstones.
On furtherenquiry, I gathered that the youths had, for some time, been
terrorizing thecommunity, breaking into homes, shops, offices with ease
and engaged inconsistent stealing which had put the community on edge. I
also gathered thatthe youths had been arrested severally and released by
the police. It wasreported that as soon as the gangsters were released by
the police, theyengaged in further stealing and this has so exasperated
the villagers that theircase had left the community frustrated. I also
learnt that the errant youthsreturned from police custody that same week.
It was that bad and this is saidto be consistent with their unceasing
subjection of the entire community torelentless stealing and terror.
Again, I heard that the robbers had severalcases pending in various courts
and before this mob action, the community had grownweary and tired on how
to deal with their nuisance.
Meanwhile,the angry mob passed the Church, I went to Mass. The gospel
reading for thatSunday’s Mass recounted the case of the woman caught
committing adultery andhow Jesus saved her from imminent death by asking
any of her accusers who hadnot sinned to cast the stone on her and none
did. This experience resonatedwith the incidence that preceded the Mass
and this did not escape the priest-homilistwho, though laid emphasis on
this, as it pertains the robbers but said that thepersistence of the
alleged robbers had made pleading for them very difficultthough he did not
relent in pleading for mercy. But the mob was not in Church,they were
elsewhere meting crude justice to the apprehended robbers.
Mass over,we heard that one of the robbers was exonerated by the mob
because he did notparticipate in the particular case in hand. The two
others were set ablaze butthey did not die there but were left to flee to
their houses. Later in the day,we heard that one of them had died and was
quickly buried. The other one wasreported to have died at dawn the
following day. Both of them died in theirhouses.
For thosewho know my community, the incident was strange. This was the
first timerobbers would be set ablaze in my community. Not that robbers
from my communityhadn’t been killed elsewhere. Many have either been burnt
or killed outside mycommunity. In fact, there is a belief that robbers
from my community don’t livelong and over the years, we have seen this
play out to the letter. But none hadbeen killed in my community before
last Sunday. My community is deeplyreligious and well educated and this
has lent a toga of softness on the peoplethat many outside my community
believed we were incapable of setting peopleablaze or killing anybody no
matter the heinousness of the crime. Even therobbers knew this which was
why they ceaselessly tormented the people. But thischanged with the case
of the two culprits and rewrote a history of civilitywhich my community
had basked in. What was remarkable in this case however wasthat the two
robbers were from the community and those that caught and set themablaze
in broad daylight were their brothers and sisters, mates, kits and kinsand
even included their fellow partners in crime! What more, their
killingelicited great joy among the members of my community. What more, it
wasreported that the father of one of the culprits lit the matchstick and
set hisson ablaze!
The entireincident got me thinking; what could have made an otherwise
peaceful,enlightened, well-educated and deeply-religious community resort
to suchself-help in dealing with their errant sons? What could have made a
father takethe very tough decision of incinerating his son alive? My
search for answersled me to observe that not even a single member of the
community made a casefor the alleged robbers, which shows that they were
indeed guilty and deservedthe punishment they got but then, that was not
the right way to deal withcriminality. That was not the justiciable way to
deal with criminality. Thatwas not the best way to deal with the pain in
the ass which I gathered theslain robbers have become to their own
community. That was not the legallyapproved way to settle such cases. Fact
remains that mob action or junglejustice is on the rise to deal with
incidences of criminality and this doesn’tspeak well of the justice system
in Nigeria.
But, I gaveup in helplessness because the entire justice and law
enforcement sectors havefailed my community and indeed the entire country.
My community relished theincineration of their members because the police
and the courts have provedgrossly inept in giving the people justice. What
could prove this assertionbetter than that the slain ruffians have series
of court cases for criminality beforethe courts and had made consistent
rounds to the police stations but only endedup getting emboldened each
time they return? In fact, the robbers, even the onethat was let off, were
said to have returned from police detention for armedrobbery that very
week and had dates with the courts the Monday after they werekilled?
Nothing could be as frustrating and defeating as criminals pooing
andmocking the justice system as is the case in Nigeria. It was alleged
that theslain robbers and their other cohorts had engaged in mocking the
courts and thepolice and the best way to show this mockery is engaging in
fresh robberies assoon as they return from either the courts and the
police stations.
As I saidearlier, even with the palpable justification people give for mob
action, it cuttinglyis not the best way to foreclose criminal or other
cases. Even as justified andangry as the mob may be, it doesn’t offer
justiciable solution to an issue. Themob is ruled by the anger of the
moment. The mob is irrational and as long asit operates on the wavelength
of its present anger, it would refuse to bereasonable until its anger is
fully given satiation. In the course of thisanger, which always rule the
mob, certain wrong decisions could be taken, manyinnocent lives could be
lost. This is the reason mobs are not the best determinantsof right or
wrong. It is just an emotionally-driven movement that often end uptaking
rash and wrong decisions. Shakespeare best captures the irrationality
ofthe mob in Julius Caesar when, the Roman mob, having been worked to a
frenzy byMark Anthony after the assassination of Julius Caesar, went out
searching forthe conspirators that murdered Caesar. In the course of the
mob action againstthe conspirators, they ran into Cinna, the poet. They
apprehended him andquestioned him because one of the conspirators was
named Cinna so anybodybearing that name was game. But Cinna the poet
protested frantically that hewas not Cinna the conspirator but Cinna the
poet but that mattered little tothe bloodshot mob and one of them rather
retorted that Cinna’s protest aboutnot being the conspirator mattered
little and advised that he should be killed,have his name plucked from his
heart and let going! That is the way of the moband often regrets follow
mob actions as reasons return after the acts.
So, why areNigerians resorting to mob actions in the face of the existence
of institutionsfor restitution? It is because the police and courts have
failed Nigerians indealing with not just criminal cases but other cases
they are constitutionallyvested to deal with. Often, the police have been
alleged to compromise justiceand have been very shoddy in investigating
and prosecuting criminal cases andthese have rather made criminals feel
invincible and prefer to end up with the police.The courts have often been
lethargic in adjudicating in cases and this hasallowed criminal cases to
linger forever. Often, when finally, the cases aresettled, they had ended
up to the favour of criminals who heavily invest in thetime-wasting delays
of the courts to escape justice. Often they have gottenmere slap in the
wrist by the courts and in many cases, mere cosmetic victorieshave been
given the complainants in the form of pyrrhic victories that rubbishthe
essence of justice. All these work to the favour of the criminals
whoremain undeterred in criminality to the frustration of law abiding
victims oftheir criminality.
So, for therising cases of mob actions against alleged criminals, the
police and the courtshave to take responsibility and must do something
urgent to not only put awaycriminals speedily but re-assure the people
that criminals apprehended would bedealt with in a manner that deters them
from continuing in crime. fact is thatthe people have lost total
confidence in the police and the courts to deal withcriminals hence the
resort to self-help becomes very attractive. In the case inmy community
last week, it was reported that a police patrol team came beforethe
robbers were set ablaze but that the angry mob chased them away.
Thisshould not be the case when the people trust the police to do the
needful withapprehended criminals.
So, let thecourts and the police work very hard to regain the confidence
of the people indealing with criminal issues. They need to take urgent
steps to work out asystem where criminals are not only appropriately
punished but expeditiouslyput away than the present state where they
escape barely after being apprehendedto continue tormenting the people.
That way, they would save not only those whoare wrong targets of mob
actions but also ensure that the proper thing is donealways. The country’s
criminal justice system needs quick and urgentstrengthening to arm the
justice system and tame the rising cases of junglejustice all over the
country.
Peter ClaverOparah
Ikeja,Lagos.
E-mail: peterclaver2000@yahoo.com