NIGERIA AND THE CULTURE OF LYNCHING
(My last write up went with the tsunami that hit nairaland sometime ago)

Lynching is the act of putting a person to death by mob action without the due process of law. Lynching has become quite rampant in Nigeria over the years. About three years ago four male University of Port Harcourt students were sent to their early graves when they were lynched and their bodies cremated by an irate mob who believed they were thieves, it was latter discovered that they were innocent of the alleged crime and come from very respectable backgrounds.

Armed robbers, petty thieves, kidnappers, and innocent individuals are constantly been lynched by the public in several towns and cities in Nigeria.

Lynching is quite very popular in Lagos: the commercial hub of Nigeria. I remembered a friend describing a lynching he witnessed a few years back; he described how one of the men who were carrying out the lynching was telling his accomplices to break one of the thieves head because he was still alive. The said thief has been badly beaten, his muddled and bloody eyes were dangling out of their sockets and he was faintly pleading for his dear life. I leave the rest to your imaginations.

I get sick when I hear such tales, and to think another human could put another to death in public glare shows how barbaric and crude some of us are. For many Nigerians, there is no sanctity in human life. Some Nigerians are nothing better than savages. Worse still, some of us are the jeering spectators when such inhumane acts are being carried out. It is only in Nigeria one will see a person on fire screaming and shouting for help and people around him will be busy making videos of him running about. Several years back, I was very disturbed when a friend was laughing over the pictures of extremely burnt bodies of victims of a fuel inferno that claimed scores of life. When I asked him why, he said they looked like roasted chickens. Then I began to think that some of us are really psychotic. To be candid, I don’t enjoy the sight of such bizarre occurrences.

The very annoying aspect of the whole thing is that people do not listen to the accused victim(s). I can simply put a person to death by shouting “kidnapper” or “thief”, you had be surprised that scores of youths will be on the chase after the person. When they finally catch up with this guy, they don’t ask him questions, they would be more than glad to quickly snuff out his precious life.

Surprisingly the people who are involved in such gory and violent killings are supposed to be normal folks on the streets. You know the type that has a family, goes to work when people are going to work and even goes to a church or mosque to worship regularly.

When I was in school, I knew of a particular insane woman who goes about her business without hurting anyone. You can find her making conversations with normal folks on the street; her dressing is not outrageous and she speaks quite impeccable English. She makes quite funny remarks at times that will get you laughing your head off. The only time you would realize that she is a mad woman is when she is engaged in an angry dialogue with an unforeseen person. This woman is called Otunba. Just a few weeks back, I learnt that Otunba wandered into a far away town where she is not known and was mercilessly beaten and left for dead by a mob who thinks she is a kidnapper pretending to be mad. It was quite a surprise when she showed up weeks later.
It upsets me to think that she was would have been lynched just for nothing, God knows how she survived. Although she is alive, very weak and lean according to news reaching me, as at the time of my earlier write up she was presumed to be dead. It all boils down to one thing.

HUMANS SHOULD NEVER LYNCH FELLOW HUMANS, GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY, HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED AND SHOULD BE TREATED SO.
People have to realize that lynching in its entirety is not only a crime but a savage, uncivilized and cruel act, one that insults our morality as a people.

Space booked

The Nigerian Government has failed us.

It's not unheard of for sentenced murderers to covertly walk out if jail after the right sum has exchanged hands.

I have personally met a guy who got convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He spent 4 years in Kirikiri before being 'bailed' by his uncle.

As at 2012 when I last saw him, he was a dealer around Evans Square, Ebutte Metta.

A lot of these robbers are also murderers and I don't blame people for taking the law into their own hands.

A lot of these fookers eventually walk free in the end, even the caught and convicted ones.

And to some people, the collateral damage of accidentally lynching a few innocent people is a small price to pay, as long as the process gives them a target to vent their anger on.

I can understand this reasoning. I don't support lynching...but I get the sentiment behind it