The Lagos State Police Command says it has
located the charred remains of a robbery suspect who was burnt to death by a mob in the Orile
area of the state.
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai
Owoseni, said the suspect was believed to be between 20 and 25 years old, and
not a seven-year-old boy lynched over garri, which went viral on
the social media.
Owoseni, who noted that the lynching occurred
around 4am penultimate Saturday, said the police had contacted an emergency
agency of the state government to remove the corpse.
It had been had
reported that there was controversy over the death of the teenager, who
was burnt to death for stealing at the Alafia bus stop in the Orile area.
Report had it that a mob at the bus stop
caught the boy after he had allegedly stole a wallet, got a tyre and set him on
fire.
One of the witnesses had narrated that the suspect and two runaway
accomplices attacked a pedestrian at the bus stop and stabbed him several
times.
The suspect, in a video which went viral on
the social media, was said to have been caught after his gang members escaped and
burnt to death.
The CP said it was wrong to put the blame on
the police, as some members of the gang had been previously arrested, arraigned
in court, but released on bail.
He added that members of the public should
join hands to fight the menace of jungle justice.
He said, “In the course of the police
investigation, it was discovered that the fellow that was lynched in the video
was an adult. The police found his decomposing body in a canal somewhere in the
Orile area. He was an adult of between 20 and 25 years.
The state emergency management agency was
contacted to remove the corpse. Our inquiries revealed that he and two members
of his gang had attacked a victim with a machete in order to snatch his wallet
and mobile phone.
“It was also found out that his gang members
had been operating in the area for a while. Some of the gang members had, at
one time or the other, been arraigned in court and through the judicial process
of securing bail, found themselves out again.
“During this particular incident, the mob
collected the machete from the suspect and attacked him. In as much as we
condemn all acts of impunity and people taking laws into their hands, you will
agree that what happened was a societal problem.
“It would not be charitable to put the blame
on the police. It is a menace that all of us should fight. The police will
continue to make arrests when crimes are committed.”
Source:The Punch
Tags
Society