Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has condemned the gruesome killing of northern travellers in Uromi, Edo State, warning that mob justice is becoming a dangerous norm in Nigeria.
The victims, mostly Hausa hunters, were reportedly on their way to Kano for Eid-Al-Fitri Sallah celebrations when they were intercepted by members of the Edo State Security Corps and local vigilantes.
Reacting to the incident in a statement on Sunday, Prof. Soyinka expressed outrage over what he described as a growing culture of impunity and the unchecked rise of lynch mob actions across the country.
“It is a sadly opportune moment, but also an enraged one, to join in conveying my commiseration to the families of the latest victims of the lynch mob mentality that is fast overtaking the nation. Edo today, which state next? Nineteen youths in one fell swoop?” he wrote.
Drawing a comparison to the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, the renowned playwright recalled how her killers were never brought to justice.
“Let this latest dent in the national armour not pass as the yet soul searing orgy that ended the life of the young student, Deborah Samuel. Recall that identified killers were set free to gloat, and paste their photos on the Social Media as having lit the consuming pyre – this in full daylight glare, in the presence of both citizen voyeurs and security forces.”
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Prof. Soyinka lamented that the issue is no longer about the number of victims but the moral decay such incidents reflect.
“The horror is not in numbers but in the act itself. As long as the culture of impunity is given the sheerest strain of legitimacy in any given cause, such gruesome assaults on our common humanity will continue to prevail, and a reversion to brutish existence become a nation’s stamp of identity.”
Calling for accountability, he stressed that the perpetrators are known and should not escape justice.
“The culprits are in plain sight and so are witnesses. There can be no excuses. My heart goes out to friends, colleagues and families of victims and traumatized survivors of this senseless slaughter. Our thirst for justice must remain unslaked.”
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