Jungle justice homicide — IGP Disu

Tunji Disu

THE Inspector General of Police, IGP, Olatunji Disu, has issued a stern warning against jungle justice and mob action, declaring that anyone who assaults or kills a suspect outside the law would be prosecuted for murder.

He said the measures had become necessary to checkmate rising cases of extrajudicial killings across the country.

The warning came against the backdrop of distressing video footage of alleged mob attacks shared online. 

The footage included groups beating individuals in residential areas; a clip labeled “Live in Ekosodin Uniben” with the word “Thief,” scenes near a riverbank with crowds gathered around a boat; shaky, distressing clips, often accompanied by crying emojis, reflect how such videos circulate rapidly on social media and fuel further outrage.

The IGP, in a viral video on social media monitored by Vanguard yesterday, delivered a direct message to the public, citing specific sections of Nigerian law and issuing new operational directives to police commands nationwide.

He was responding to the growing online footage of mob attacks across the country.

Recall that a 25-year-old University of Jos graduate, Ibrahim Mbaya, popularly known as Ibee, was killed in Jos on July 26 after being accused of stealing an iPhone 12, among several other cases.

Murder charge 

Reacting, the police chief said mob action would no longer be excused as community justice, noting

that Sections 319 and 221 dealt with murder, while Section 516 criminalised conspiracy, giving police a broad basis to prosecute participants and enablers of jungle justice.

“Anybody who assaults or summarily executes a suspected criminal in the name of mob action is guilty of murder. And the punishment for murder is death.

“Section 319 of the Criminal Code and Section 221 of the Penal Code,  both prescribe the death penalty for murder in Nigeria,” he said.

The IGP extended liabilitybeyond those who carried out the act, saying anyone who planned, incited, or encouraged a mob was also criminally liable.

Disu specifically warned those who filmed, circulated videos, mobilised crowds, or obstructed police intervention. 

He said:  “Those who video the event and circulate them; those who take pictures and circulate them; and those who mobilise the crowd, or those who block the police from intervening, are all liable. 

“They are guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. And the punishment for that is 14 years imprisonment.

Nationwide clampdown 

“I have directed all the commissioners of police in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT to treat every case of mob action as homicide.”

 To carry out full scale investigations using all the forensic tools and intelligence tools available to the police.

“We are not going to spare anybody who is involved in mob action. We will do a thorough investigation and we will charge them to court.  We will prosecute them and make sure justice is done. There’s no exception to this.”

The IGP urged the public to allow law enforcement handle suspects and refrain from taking the law into their own hands.