Mob Burns Two Suspected Motorcycle Thieves To Death

Two men were killed by a mob in Nyon, a suburb of Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, after they were allegedly thieves.

After the suspects allegedly tried to steal their victim’s motorbike in the Nyon layout at around one in the morning on Friday, April 19, they were reduced to ashes.

As the two allegedly struggled to take his bike from him, the commercial motorcyclist sounded an alert, which led to the suspects’ capture and subsequent lynching, according to witnesses.

Witnesses claimed that the commercial motorcyclist had informed the crowd that he had picked up the two passengers (suspects) from Katsina Ala street in Makurdi town’s High Level neighbourhood and that they had instructed him (the biker) to ride them to Nyon, a suburban district of Makurdi.

However, when he arrived in Nyon, the people he was travelling with led him down a street, which he proceeded along. Because it was getting late at night, he instructed his passengers to pay him so he could return.

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“The suspects however insisted they don’t have money on them and that they will get the money from the house on getting home. While he made to go, they grabbed him and requested that he gave them his motorcycle key. As he refused to hand them the keys, they started struggling with him and luck ran out on them when he raised an alarm,” the witnesses narrated.

The witness further stated that a mob, primarily young people, responded to the cyclist’s cry by gathering in large numbers, pursuing the alleged bike robbers and apprehending them before they could flee.

“It was the youths who beat the suspects to a pulp before setting them ablaze because the incidences of motorcycle snatching had become a recurrent event especially in Makurdi metropolis,” he said.

The incident was reported to journalists on Saturday by SP Catherine Anene, the spokesperson for the State Police Command. She also mentioned that certain officers had been dispatched to the village to investigate the incident’s details. The PPRO asked people to refrain from enacting laws on their own.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli