THE untimely death of Citizen Temitope Adeoye recently, consequent upon an alleged mob attack on him in Lagos State, has brought to the fore once again, the level of lawlessness and lack of respect for the sanctity of human life in the country. It is sad that human life has become very cheap and it would appear as if the society has unwittingly bred a stock of outlaws who are always waiting in the wings to snuff out precious human life for the flimsiest of excuses. Adeoye, a clearing agent, was reportedly returning from work in company with his friend, Babatunde Adigwe, on a commercial bike when the duo were falsely accused of being thieves by some miscreants at Odo-Olowu bus stop, Ijesa, on Apapa-Oshodi highway. While Adigwe and the commercial cyclist escaped, Adeoye, who had already alighted from the bike when they were accosted by the hoodlums, was not that lucky. He was reportedly hacked and burnt to death.
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Ironically, some of the outlaws who executed the barbaric and dastardly act were themselves robbers as the cell phone and wristwatch of the deceased were found on two of them by the police. Indeed, it was this discovery supported by the narrative of Adigwe who had reported the matter to the police that provided proof that Adeoye’s case was either that of mistaken identity or the false accusation was deliberately orchestrated by the hoodlums to provide an opportunity to rob him. Whichever was the case, the innocence of the victim has been established even though the irreversible damage has been done. Another life has been needlessly been cut short in its prime. This is pathetic and patently unacceptable.
To be sure, there can be no just cause for lynching any human being. Even if an offence deserving of capital punishment has been committed, there is an official and legal procedure for determining, pronouncing and executing it. The killing of Adeoye by a mob is a gruesome event and the perpetrators must have their day in court. It is important that government at all levels take this issue very seriously as mob rule is fast becoming the rule rather than the exception in many parts of the country. No society that lays claim to any modicum of decency should brook jungle justice as it is axiomatic that shedding of innocent blood is a blight on any nation. Many innocent Nigerians have lost their lives in circumstances similar to that of Adeoye. This must stop. The government and the society at large must work assiduously to rein in lawlessness. No one, not even a law-enforcement agent, has the right to take the life of any human being without the pronouncement of a court to so do. The security agents that sometimes kill or maim are expected to do so permissively under inevitable and special circumstances to protect themselves and other citizens, and even at that, they have stringent rules of engagement and codes to follow. It is barbaric, vicious and uncivilised to engage in or condone jungle justice.
Notwithstanding whether people trust the police to do justice or not, they cannot continue to take the law into their own hands. All suspects that are apprehended by persons other than the police, no matter the perceived weight of evidence against them, must be handed over to the police for further and more professional investigation and prosecution in the law court. The society is better off if the police let go 10 suspected criminals than for jungle justice to be meted out to one innocent person. Perhaps it should be stressed that even if a criminal is caught in the act, no person, not even the police, can punish him/her except the court of law. All forms of leadership—government, traditional and religious—have a duty to help put all of this in intense advocacy so that everyone is sensitised that the law abhors jungle justice or any semblance of it under whatever guise. It is equally imperative to activate the mechanism for deterrence against mob actions. Culprits should be severely punished for participating in jungle justice even when it is officially established that victims of jungle justice were indeed criminals. The law must always be allowed to take its course; there should be no room for self-help or anarchy. Meanwhile, the killers of Adeoye should be apprehended and brought to book to serve as a deterrent to potential perpetrators of mob actions. Citizen Adeoye must not be allowed to die in vain.
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