A mob in Abuja on Saturday stoned and set one 30-year-old Ahmad Usman, a member of a vigilante group, for allegedly making statements deemed to be blasphemous.
Trouble started when members of the vigilante group guarding the Tippa Garage at the Federal Housing Estate Lugbe, a satellite town in Abuja, tried to arrest some residents wandering around the market in the early hours of Saturday.
The residents were said to have begged the vigilance group to free them in the name of Allah but one of the vigilantes kicked and made comments said to be blasphemous.
A trader in the market who spoke to the press in confidence said the vigilante man was beaten and stoned before he was set ablaze at the prompting of one Muslim cleric.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command of Nigeria Police has confirmed the incident and claims that it has brought the situation under control.
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In a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja via the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Josephine Adeh, FCT Police Commissioner Babaji Sunday was quoted as saying: “Today 4th of June 2022 at about 13:00hrs, one Ahmad Usman a 30 years old member of the local vigilante around Tippa garage at Federal Housing Estate in Lugbe Area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) got into an argument with a cleric (Malam) whose name is yet unknown from the same area. The heated argument degenerated into an outbreak of violence that led to the murder and setting ablaze of Ahmad Usman by the enraged mob mobilized by the clergy numbering about Two hundred (200).
“Upon the receipt of this information, a quick intervention team comprising of The Surveillance and Ambush team of the Command attached to the Lugbe Divisional Police Headquarters was drafted to the scene where the enflamed victim was rescued suffering severe degrees of burn and taken immediately to the hospital where he was confirmed dead by a doctor on call.
“Normalcy has since been restored to the situation, while monitoring and surveillance of the area continues. Residents are therefore urged to go about their lawful duties without fear or apprehension of any kind from any quarters as the discrete investigation continues to unravel facts surrounding the ugly incident and to effect the arrest of the perpetrators therein,” he stated.
According to the statement, the FCT Commissioner of Police warned against the indiscriminate act of self-help in obtaining justice known as jungle justice and stated that adequate sanctions will be meted on subscribers of the crude and dastardly act.
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