Last weekSunday, I was in the village. I attended the 8.00 am Mass that
\nday. As Iarrived the Church at exactly 7.55am, I saw a throng of
\nclub-wielding youthsand angry youngsters marching along the road adjacent
\nto the Church. Oninstinct, I went closer to find out what was going on.
\nThe angry youths mixedwith other attendants of the Church to form a very
\nhuge crowd that surged allover the Church compound, to the road. Getting
\ncloser, I saw three young men,stripped completely naked being marched down
\nprobably to the market squarenearby. I was confused. I asked what the
\nissue was and was told the three youthswere caught stealing various goods
\nfrom houses and shops in the community theprevious night. I saw the three
\nculprits who were from the community but didn\u2019trecognize any of them. The
\nculprits were beaten and shoved from one spot to theother by the youths
\nwho were variously armed with clubs, matches, sticks andstones.<\/p>\n
On furtherenquiry, I gathered that the youths had, for some time, been
\nterrorizing thecommunity, breaking into homes, shops, offices with ease
\nand engaged inconsistent stealing which had put the community on edge. I
\nalso gathered thatthe youths had been arrested severally and released by
\nthe police. It wasreported that as soon as the gangsters were released by
\nthe police, theyengaged in further stealing and this has so exasperated
\nthe villagers that theircase had left the community frustrated. I also
\nlearnt that the errant youthsreturned from police custody that same week.
\nIt was that bad and this is saidto be consistent with their unceasing
\nsubjection of the entire community torelentless stealing and terror.
\nAgain, I heard that the robbers had severalcases pending in various courts
\nand before this mob action, the community had grownweary and tired on how
\nto deal with their nuisance.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile,the angry mob passed the Church, I went to Mass. The gospel
\nreading for thatSunday\u2019s Mass recounted the case of the woman caught
\ncommitting adultery andhow Jesus saved her from imminent death by asking
\nany of her accusers who hadnot sinned to cast the stone on her and none
\ndid. This experience resonatedwith the incidence that preceded the Mass
\nand this did not escape the priest-homilistwho, though laid emphasis on
\nthis, as it pertains the robbers but said that thepersistence of the
\nalleged robbers had made pleading for them very difficultthough he did not
\nrelent in pleading for mercy. But the mob was not in Church,they were
\nelsewhere meting crude justice to the apprehended robbers.<\/p>\n
Mass over,we heard that one of the robbers was exonerated by the mob
\nbecause he did notparticipate in the particular case in hand. The two
\nothers were set ablaze butthey did not die there but were left to flee to
\ntheir houses. Later in the day,we heard that one of them had died and was
\nquickly buried. The other one wasreported to have died at dawn the
\nfollowing day. Both of them died in theirhouses.<\/p>\n
For thosewho know my community, the incident was strange. This was the
\nfirst timerobbers would be set ablaze in my community. Not that robbers
\nfrom my communityhadn\u2019t been killed elsewhere. Many have either been burnt
\nor killed outside mycommunity. In fact, there is a belief that robbers
\nfrom my community don\u2019t livelong and over the years, we have seen this
\nplay out to the letter. But none hadbeen killed in my community before
\nlast Sunday. My community is deeplyreligious and well educated and this
\nhas lent a toga of softness on the peoplethat many outside my community
\nbelieved we were incapable of setting peopleablaze or killing anybody no
\nmatter the heinousness of the crime. Even therobbers knew this which was
\nwhy they ceaselessly tormented the people. But thischanged with the case
\nof the two culprits and rewrote a history of civilitywhich my community
\nhad basked in. What was remarkable in this case however wasthat the two
\nrobbers were from the community and those that caught and set themablaze
\nin broad daylight were their brothers and sisters, mates, kits and kinsand
\neven included their fellow partners in crime! What more, their
\nkillingelicited great joy among the members of my community. What more, it
\nwasreported that the father of one of the culprits lit the matchstick and
\nset hisson ablaze!<\/p>\n
The entireincident got me thinking; what could have made an otherwise
\npeaceful,enlightened, well-educated and deeply-religious community resort
\nto suchself-help in dealing with their errant sons? What could have made a
\nfather takethe very tough decision of incinerating his son alive? My
\nsearch for answersled me to observe that not even a single member of the
\ncommunity made a casefor the alleged robbers, which shows that they were
\nindeed guilty and deservedthe punishment they got but then, that was not
\nthe right way to deal withcriminality. That was not the justiciable way to
\ndeal with criminality. Thatwas not the best way to deal with the pain in
\nthe ass which I gathered theslain robbers have become to their own
\ncommunity. That was not the legallyapproved way to settle such cases. Fact
\nremains that mob action or junglejustice is on the rise to deal with
\nincidences of criminality and this doesn\u2019tspeak well of the justice system
\nin Nigeria.<\/p>\n
But, I gaveup in helplessness because the entire justice and law
\nenforcement sectors havefailed my community and indeed the entire country.
\nMy community relished theincineration of their members because the police
\nand the courts have provedgrossly inept in giving the people justice. What
\ncould prove this assertionbetter than that the slain ruffians have series
\nof court cases for criminality beforethe courts and had made consistent
\nrounds to the police stations but only endedup getting emboldened each
\ntime they return? In fact, the robbers, even the onethat was let off, were
\nsaid to have returned from police detention for armedrobbery that very
\nweek and had dates with the courts the Monday after they werekilled?
\nNothing could be as frustrating and defeating as criminals pooing
\nandmocking the justice system as is the case in Nigeria. It was alleged
\nthat theslain robbers and their other cohorts had engaged in mocking the
\ncourts and thepolice and the best way to show this mockery is engaging in
\nfresh robberies assoon as they return from either the courts and the
\npolice stations.<\/p>\n
As I saidearlier, even with the palpable justification people give for mob
\naction, it cuttinglyis not the best way to foreclose criminal or other
\ncases. Even as justified andangry as the mob may be, it doesn\u2019t offer
\njusticiable solution to an issue. Themob is ruled by the anger of the
\nmoment. The mob is irrational and as long asit operates on the wavelength
\nof its present anger, it would refuse to bereasonable until its anger is
\nfully given satiation. In the course of thisanger, which always rule the
\nmob, certain wrong decisions could be taken, manyinnocent lives could be
\nlost. This is the reason mobs are not the best determinantsof right or
\nwrong. It is just an emotionally-driven movement that often end uptaking
\nrash and wrong decisions. Shakespeare best captures the irrationality
\nofthe mob in Julius Caesar when, the Roman mob, having been worked to a
\nfrenzy byMark Anthony after the assassination of Julius Caesar, went out
\nsearching forthe conspirators that murdered Caesar. In the course of the
\nmob action againstthe conspirators, they ran into Cinna, the poet. They
\napprehended him andquestioned him because one of the conspirators was
\nnamed Cinna so anybodybearing that name was game. But Cinna the poet
\nprotested frantically that hewas not Cinna the conspirator but Cinna the
\npoet but that mattered little tothe bloodshot mob and one of them rather
\nretorted that Cinna\u2019s protest aboutnot being the conspirator mattered
\nlittle and advised that he should be killed,have his name plucked from his
\nheart and let going! That is the way of the moband often regrets follow
\nmob actions as reasons return after the acts.<\/p>\n
So, why areNigerians resorting to mob actions in the face of the existence
\nof institutionsfor restitution? It is because the police and courts have
\nfailed Nigerians indealing with not just criminal cases but other cases
\nthey are constitutionallyvested to deal with. Often, the police have been
\nalleged to compromise justiceand have been very shoddy in investigating
\nand prosecuting criminal cases andthese have rather made criminals feel
\ninvincible and prefer to end up with the police.The courts have often been
\nlethargic in adjudicating in cases and this hasallowed criminal cases to
\nlinger forever. Often, when finally, the cases aresettled, they had ended
\nup to the favour of criminals who heavily invest in thetime-wasting delays
\nof the courts to escape justice. Often they have gottenmere slap in the
\nwrist by the courts and in many cases, mere cosmetic victorieshave been
\ngiven the complainants in the form of pyrrhic victories that rubbishthe
\nessence of justice. All these work to the favour of the criminals
\nwhoremain undeterred in criminality to the frustration of law abiding
\nvictims oftheir criminality.<\/p>\n
So, for therising cases of mob actions against alleged criminals, the
\npolice and the courtshave to take responsibility and must do something
\nurgent to not only put awaycriminals speedily but re-assure the people
\nthat criminals apprehended would bedealt with in a manner that deters them
\nfrom continuing in crime. fact is thatthe people have lost total
\nconfidence in the police and the courts to deal withcriminals hence the
\nresort to self-help becomes very attractive. In the case inmy community
\nlast week, it was reported that a police patrol team came beforethe
\nrobbers were set ablaze but that the angry mob chased them away.
\nThisshould not be the case when the people trust the police to do the
\nneedful withapprehended criminals.<\/p>\n
So, let thecourts and the police work very hard to regain the confidence
\nof the people indealing with criminal issues. They need to take urgent
\nsteps to work out asystem where criminals are not only appropriately
\npunished but expeditiouslyput away than the present state where they
\nescape barely after being apprehendedto continue tormenting the people.
\nThat way, they would save not only those whoare wrong targets of mob
\nactions but also ensure that the proper thing is donealways. The country\u2019s
\ncriminal justice system needs quick and urgentstrengthening to arm the
\njustice system and tame the rising cases of junglejustice all over the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Peter ClaverOparah<\/p>\n
Ikeja,Lagos.<\/p>\n