A
woman who sells foodstuff at the Cemetery Market area of Ajegunle,
Apapa, Lagos State, yesterday escaped being lynched by an angry mob,
which believed she stole a new-born. This happened shortly after the
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mba, said in a statement
that the police were deeply concerned about the increasing tendency by
some citizens to resort to jungle justice.
A witness claimed that the woman was carrying a baby just delivered by her daughter (names withheld) in a private hospital in Aiyetoro, Ajegunle and was going to her house at Abukuru Street, also in Ajegunle when some people saw her, thought she had stolen the baby and pounced on her.
The woman’s attackers said there was no way a woman her age could have given birth to a baby. The woman’s attempts to convince the mob that her daughter, a footballer, delivered the child same day were rebuffed by the mob which tore her clothes. At a point, the baby began to bleed from the umbilical cord because of the attack.
“The woman cried that they should not kill her and the child and pleaded that they should investigate before attacking. “The woman even showed them some new clothes belonging to the baby which were in her possession but they did not listen,” the witness said.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ajegunle Police Division, CSP Abayomi Agbana, was alerted and he drafted a team of policemen to the scene, thereby rescuing the grandmother and the baby from the mob. The police also invited the medical director of the hospital, where the woman’s daughter delivered the baby.
The doctor identified the granny, adding that he told her to take the baby to her house because the baby’s mother was anaemic. According to the doctor, the baby was delivered around 8.45am.
He told the police that the mother could not breastfed the baby because of her poor health condition. But speaking on the marked increase in jungle justice, in the country, Mba said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, hd warned citizens to desist from such reprehensible acts.
He said: “Every Nigerian citizen is entitled to the fundamental right of fair hearing; the IG insists that none is guilty except a law court of competent jurisdiction expressly says so.
“He therefore has directed Zonal AIGs, Command CPs and other field commanders to take adequate measures to ensure that the rights of every Nigerian citizen, including those of suspected criminals, are protected.
“The IGP warns that any person found to be involved in any acts of impunity or jungle justice must bear the full wrath of the law as two wrongs cannot make a right.”
A witness claimed that the woman was carrying a baby just delivered by her daughter (names withheld) in a private hospital in Aiyetoro, Ajegunle and was going to her house at Abukuru Street, also in Ajegunle when some people saw her, thought she had stolen the baby and pounced on her.
The woman’s attackers said there was no way a woman her age could have given birth to a baby. The woman’s attempts to convince the mob that her daughter, a footballer, delivered the child same day were rebuffed by the mob which tore her clothes. At a point, the baby began to bleed from the umbilical cord because of the attack.
“The woman cried that they should not kill her and the child and pleaded that they should investigate before attacking. “The woman even showed them some new clothes belonging to the baby which were in her possession but they did not listen,” the witness said.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ajegunle Police Division, CSP Abayomi Agbana, was alerted and he drafted a team of policemen to the scene, thereby rescuing the grandmother and the baby from the mob. The police also invited the medical director of the hospital, where the woman’s daughter delivered the baby.
The doctor identified the granny, adding that he told her to take the baby to her house because the baby’s mother was anaemic. According to the doctor, the baby was delivered around 8.45am.
He told the police that the mother could not breastfed the baby because of her poor health condition. But speaking on the marked increase in jungle justice, in the country, Mba said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, hd warned citizens to desist from such reprehensible acts.
He said: “Every Nigerian citizen is entitled to the fundamental right of fair hearing; the IG insists that none is guilty except a law court of competent jurisdiction expressly says so.
“He therefore has directed Zonal AIGs, Command CPs and other field commanders to take adequate measures to ensure that the rights of every Nigerian citizen, including those of suspected criminals, are protected.
“The IGP warns that any person found to be involved in any acts of impunity or jungle justice must bear the full wrath of the law as two wrongs cannot make a right.”
No comments:
Post a Comment