₦airaland Forum

JUNGLE JUSTICE: THE HYPOCRISY OF THE SOUTHERN NIGERIANS!

By Salihu Tanko Yakasai.

Everywhere you look in this country, you can see rot in the system. The complicity of those who should know better is evident, and the vices that have become normalized persist across different parts of Nigeria. From chronic underdevelopment in all six geopolitical zones, including the oil producing states and the so-called economic hubs, to the regions that pride themselves on their religiosity, there’s no shortage of poor leadership.

However, one thing I find both amusing and troubling is how quickly the South amplifies the problems of the North, often presenting them as unique or exclusive to us, totally oblivious to theirs.

For clarity, I am not excusing the North. I have addressed our issues many times, particularly regarding insecurity. In fact, some readers may recall that I was arrested by the DSS in 2021 during the administration of late President Buhari after I criticized the handling of the Tegina schoolgirls’ abduction. I have also written openly about the failures of northern leaders, including my 2012 article, "19 Northern Governors: The Certified Parasites." I have consistently urged young. northerners to build capacity and equip themselves to add value to Arewa and the country as a whole. Yes, we have been vocal in our criticisms and have held our leaders accountable.

What I rarely see happen, is that same objectivity from many in the South. Whenever something occurs in the North, they swiftly condemn all northerners collectively, presenting it as if the entire region is guilty or that such acts are widespread and culturally accepted.

Take jungle justice as an example. The killing of Deborah in Sokoto is often cited as a favorite reference point by Nigerians from the South. For the record, my position has always been clear: Deborah should have been handed over to the authorities if she committed any crime. No one has the right to pass judgment outside the law. Her killing was jungle justice, plain and simple. Does that mean blasphemy is condoned? Absolutely not. But it should be the courts, not a mob, that decides.

However, here’s the hypocrisy: that same jungle justice is also widespread in the South. Burning people alive with tires, stoning them, or using cutlass to unailve them is rampant all over the South.

Many high-profile killings of northerners have occurred there in recent years. Harira Jubril and her four daughters were murdered in Anambra in 2022 by suspected ESN operatives. Sixteen northerners were lynched and burned in Uromi, Edo State, in 2025. The violence at Sasa market in Ibadan in 2021 left many Hausa residents dead and displaced. In the same year, armed separatists shot dead northern traders in Orlu and Umuaka, Imo State. These are not rumors; these are facts.

Yet, somehow, these incidents are downplayed or ignored. When you mention them, some people respond by saying Deborah was killed “in the name of Islam,” as if that magically makes the killing of northerners acceptable merely because it wasn’t done “in the name of Christianity,” even though the perpetrators were Christians.

Even in the Southwest, where many present themselves as morally superior, the jungle justice carried out by the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) is conveniently forgotten. OPC began as a rights group but quickly morphed into a vigilante outfit linked to violent clashes across Lagos in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Human Rights Watch documented killings ranging from beheadings, torture, arson, and ethnic attacks in areas such as Ketu, Mile 12, Ajegunle, Idi-Araba, Ojo, and Isolo. Northern traders, civilians, and even police
officers were victims, with official estimates of the death toll nearing 500. Yet this history rarely makes its way into their moral lectures. Curiously, their memory seems to begin and end with Deborah or similar acts in the North.

The[b] common denominator in all these examples is clear: jungle justice. It is neither northern nor southern; it is a Nigerian problem. This selective outrage is not only hypocritical; it is dangerous. If we genuinely want a better country, we must condemn evil wherever it arises, not just when it suits our regional ego.
[/b]
Jungle justice thrives on emotion, ignorance, and collective cowardice. It destroys trust, erodes justice, and turns ordinary people into executioners. Until we confront this truth honestly, without hypocrisy or selective morality, we will continue to dance in circles, pretending that one part of Nigeria is holier than the other.

The reality is that jungle justice thrives everywhere in Nigeria for the same reason: people no longer trust the justice system to protect them or punish offenders. And as the saying goes, once you allow the mob to decide who lives or dies, no one
is safe, not even the mob!

https://x.com/dawisu/status/1992903749606477831?

Salihu Tanko Yakasai (Peacock/Dawisu)

naptu2:
Background

Salihu Tanko Yakasai (Peacock @dawisu) was the special adviser on new media to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano. Like his father Tanko Yakasai (who was Shagari's presidential liaison to the National Assembly), he is very outspoken. He doesn't hesitate to speak his mind. This has often gotten him into trouble (just like his father often got into trouble).


He annoyed some Kanawa because he defended his boss, Abdullahi Ganduje during the dollargate scandal.

He also annoyed some Kanawa because of his criticism and mocking of the former Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, when the Emir had problems with Governor Ganduje.


He was suspended from office in October 2020 for criticising President Buhari over the End SARS protest.
Governor Ganduje Suspends Salihu Yakasai For Criticising Buhari Over #EndSARS

He was reinstated a few weeks later.

However, he was sacked in February 2021 and detained by the DSS for criticising President Buhari again and asking him to resign after some school children were kidnapped by bandits.
Ganduje Sacks Salihu Tanko Yakasai Over "Unguarded Comments"

Salihu Tanko-Yakasai: SSS Confirms The Arrest and Detention Of Ganduje's Ex-Aide

"Asking Buhari To Resign Is Not An Offence, Release Tanko-Yakasai" – Falana

His father said that his son was just beginning his journey and he stated that he was arrested 10 times. Salihu Tanko Yakasai then joked that he had 9 more arrests to go.

Some activists complained when he was listed as a speaker at the Soro Soke Summit in 2021
"Activists" Complain As Dawisu Is Listed As A Speaker At 'Soro Soke' Summit


Salihu Tanko Yakasai resigned from the APC on March 21, 2022.
Salihu Tanko Yakasai Dumps APC.

He once again called for President Buhari's resignation on March 29th, 2022 after an attack on a train on the Kaduna-Abuja Line.
Salihu Tanko Yakasai Calls For President Buhari To Resign

In May 2022 he declared his intention to run for the governorship of Kano on the platform of the PRP.
Salihu Tanko Yakasai (Dawisu) Declares Intention To Run For Governor Of Kano

Politics Without Bitterness As Ganduje And Dawisu's Convoys Greet Each Other.

And in August 2023 he returned to the APC. He said that the national chairman of the APC, Dr Ganduje, had invited him back to the APC to consolidate on the gains that he has made.

Salihu 'Dawisu' Tanko Yakasai Returns To APC In Kano

However, in recent months, especially after Ganduje was removed as APC chairman, he has become a big critic of the Bola Tinubu Administration

South-West FEC Meeting: Salihu Yakasai Criticises Lopsided Projects Distribution

What picture are you trying to paint today when terrorist in the name of religion has set the country ablase.

What should concern you and the northern leaders should've the shame and embarrassment your region has brought up on the country.

The enormous security funds that goes into quenching the fire your leaders ignited through the introduction of Sharia that has formed the foundation where all other vices tap it's root.

You like other northern elders have suddenly woken up when the US signify interest to help the perplexed FG terminate the terror perpetrators in Nigeria.

Your region who through late Buhari demanded that foreign aids should be exclusively channel to the north is today crying like bush baby about soverenity which the bandits, killer herdsmen and BH have denied Nigerian space.

How do you justify a region who during ordinary protest, openly display Russian flag in Nigeria soil be talking about soverenity?

It is glaringly safe to say every northerner is a bandit sympathiser and see nothing unusual in the way bandit have taken over their region.

This is not the time to preach about the Southern vices, but a time when you should roll out a megaphone to compel your terror army to stop killing and kidnapping our vulnerable school children

I agree with him to an extent. Nigerians across regions have the same primitive mentality. Southern Governors are as visionless as their Northern counterparts. Presidents from the South have been as visionless and clueless as presidents from the North. It has been a festival of mediocrity and inordinate greed.

I had expected someone like Salihu Tanko Yakasai to link up with peers and like minds across geopolitical zones to kick-start a true change revolution. He is well educated, highly exposed, and well connected. He is from a highly revered family in the North and a son of elder statesman Tanko Yakassai. He is young and brave. He cuts an image of someone that could make a good leader but somehow he is still moving with 'Northern Interests' handbrake on.

Lastly, Salihu unnecessarily asslicked Ganduje strengthen his CV. Sad but it must be said.

The bulk stops at the president table

Analysis of a world certified muntulla

The way these guys are going about, struggling to rope people into the description of their c h a r a c t e r is very disturbing.

Oct 7, they went on rammpage, and came gaslighting the world that Israel is doing exactly what they went to do on Oct 7 and that they are the victiims.

Sep 11, they went for the twin tower and came back gaslighting the world that America are terrrorizing them.

They try so hard to do the "we all are b a d too."


Just for those who didn't take their time to read it, the whole article is to justify the action of izlamic terrrorists on Deborah in Sokoto.

Goats talk allover here.

Truthissupreme:
The bulk stops at the president table

Buck not bulk. Buck , not bulk

CodeTemplarr:
Goats talk allover here.

Someone's in denial here.

Jungle justice is widely condemned in the south, likewise the causes of said justice. The term itself is a pejorative.

This is in no way comparable to the myriad of atrocities that emanate from the north where all manner of ills are tolerated and held up as societal norms.

This one is not serious at all

More like a service failure.

All I will say is, vote out tinubu and vote in a government that would end the resource curse which is why we are so poor as a nation that we cannot get the type of budget that would give us a modern police force and they type of economy that would generate jobs by the thousands

Interesting perspective. It’s true that every region has its own challenges, yet we often focus on the problems “elsewhere” rather than reflecting on our own backyard.

Makes you wonder — is this selective outrage just human nature, or does it show how deeply politics and bias shape public discourse in Nigeria

Mr Tank Yakasai, what are you trying to say

You give hardcore terrorist

Islam is a curse to the world. I posted same thing last week but one godforsaken character deleted it.

This guy should understand that we have south west, south south n south east n our actions n ways of thinking are never the same.

He should b specific about who he's talking about

This man must be high on cow poopoo. I mean what nonsense is all these?

Insecurity Is Not Created in a Vacuum

By
Sa'adiyyah Adebisi Hassan

Terrorists did not start under Tinubu.

Bandits did not start under Tinubu.

Boko Haram did not start under Jonathan.

But each administration made its own foolish contribution:

Jonathan: Timidity, fear of northern backlash, weak security coordination, and slow response to major national shocks like Chibok.

Buhari: Nepotism, open sympathy for “repentant” killers, disastrous amnesty/rehabilitation policy, and complete collapse of deterrence.

Tinubu: Obsession with power arithmetic, early 2027 calculation, and a soft, timid posture towards the same interests that profit from chaos.

So when people say: “They are using insecurity to destabilise Tinubu like they did Jonathan”

The translation is: “Tinubu has the same weaknesses as Jonathan so the same people are pressing the same buttons.”

You cannot be desperate for power and still claim to be shocked when power players weaponise bloodshed.

You Don’t Negotiate With Fire While Your House Is Burning

If Tinubu was serious, his response to this wave of terror would not be:

Endless meetings and statements

Blame games

PR defence from media aides

Quiet romance with “stakeholders” who publicly minimize or deny the killings

A serious president:

1. Declares total war on terror sponsors not just the boys in the bush, but the men in agbada, kaftan, and turban.

2. Rebuilds command structure appoint security chiefs based on war experience, not party membership or region.

3. Stops campaign mode bans talk of 2027 within his cabinet and party while the country bleeds.

4. Protects children and schools like national treasures safe school initiative, real military presence, technology, and intelligence, not press releases.

5. Faces the north honestly tells power brokers: “You either help stop this or you will be exposed and destroyed politically and legally.”

But that requires courage.
Courage is rare in a man whose entire life project is “I must be president at all costs.”

The Real “Destabilisation” We Should Be Worried About

Nigeria is not being destabilised primarily by “elements”.

Nigeria is being destroyed by:

Leaders who see the presidency as a trophy, not a responsibility.

Parties who see citizens as vote banks, not human beings.

A political class that plans next elections while citizens plan mass burials.

That is the true destabilisation.

And here is the brutal truth: If insecurity today is being used to weaken Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it is because he refused to tackle it like a leader and chose to manage it like a politician.

The same way Goodluck Jonathan tried to manage it and lost both Nigeria’s security and his seat.

Power Without Purpose Is a Curse

Those saying “they are trying to destroy Tinubu like they destroyed Jonathan” are accidentally confessing one thing: Nigeria keeps electing men who want power more than they want justice.

And as long as that continues:

Bandits will keep testing the state.

Terrorists will keep mocking the uniform.

Elites will keep trading blood for bargaining power.

Citizens will keep dying and will keep being used as examples in foolish political arguments.

The solution is not to cry about “elements”.

The solution is to ask:

Does the man in power fear losing Nigerians more than he fears losing power?

Is he willing to destroy the system that benefits him in order to save the country that elected him?

If the answer is No, then stop blaming “enemies of the government”.

The real enemy of the government sits inside the government: Desperation, cowardice, and the addiction to 2027.

dix man weed supplier should be arrested

Those fulanis killed in the south was as a result of villages avenging their dead over what the fulanis did to them...

Jungle justice like in my place in Warri is usually done to people that have taken lives or people deemed untouchable if they are released to police... We don't kill people for religion. We have that so called moral superiority(initialising his own words) to not kill for the fun of religion. We don't kill, we are moved by sympathy for the dead and injustice committed by these people.


For example, 2012 in Agbarho, Warri Delta State. A vigilante was beheaded and his head was sat upon... Before his death, he was terrorising the market women with his gun and collecting taxes from them, abusing them and even sleeping with people's wife while threatening their husbands with gun. He was backed by the Late Brigadier General Esiso Obada(a very evil man). The vigilante was deemed untouchable. Then one day, he shot and killed a young man out of unprovoked anger and was boasting about it. This was the last broken straw. He had killed in the past but was backed by General Esiso. So when he killed this boy, the elder brother of the boy retaliated in the warri fashion. Took his gang, raided the vigilantes and killed the killer.

Then he sat on his head at the Five Junction in Agbarho awaiting police to arrest him. The video is still on the Internet.

You must understand something, the death of the vigilante was wildly celebrated by Indigenes. As at that time, my grand father, a retired general and a former chief of army staff was still alive, and i remember when he heard the story, he was appalled. Such savagery, but it was commendable. If justice can not be gotten fairly and squarely, the people must take it forcefully. If justice is not served, Violence remains the cure.

So whatever actions my Southern brothers must have undertaken, they are morally justified and although it is savagery, you can not compare it to people that kill for fun in the North. I don't speak for the SW or the SE, i speak for the people of Warri(SS) in this account.

At the shout of "Allahu akb", u know what follows


May the blood of Deborah speaks for her.

dix man supplier should be arrested

I hate all this complaining,

Let's just divide the country and let peace reign.


I don't know why it is difficult and many people are not supporting it.

Do you want your family members to die before you accept the fact that there is need for us to go our separate ways?

Complain, complain complain, yet you hate solutions.


Nawaoo!


😈😈😈

There is a difference. None of the perpetrators of jungle justice ran on social media to brag about what they did. None of them had a team of 35 lawyers defending them. None of them had a court case that lingered and died.

And none of them are about persecution of a minority. By its very nature every religion is blasphemy to another religion. So if I tell my neighbors sorry - your God is a prophet should they also jump on my ass, burn me alive and then have an army of lawyers defending them?

No one has a monopoly of violence or of prosecuting people of other religious persuasions for blasphemy

This guy had to go back to early 2000's to talk about the OPC incident that was as a result of clashes between northerners and Yorubas.

He clearly can't come up with any recent incident lime that when southerners just wake and start killing northerners in the name of jungle justice.

People like this are pseudo-intellectuals who try to use the little intellect they have to twist facts and draw false equivalence like he's doing.

These people just won't take responsibility for their obvious and continuous mess up. He has forgotten that over 50 senior Muslim lawyers of northern origin defended the killers of Deborah in court. Maybe that's not an evidence enough to show they do actually justify killings over there

MEGAWATCH:
I hate all this complaining,

Let's just divide the country and let peace reign.


I don't know why it is difficult and many people are not supporting it.

Do you want your family members to die before you accept the fact that there is need for us to go our separate ways?

Complain, complain complain, yet you hate solutions.


Nawaoo!


😈😈😈

Yeah, let's divide the country into mini contraptions that will fight each other for oil money. And conduct persecution of smaller tribes

I think northern Nigeria is a more commonly used concept than southern Nigeria.Southern Nigeria doesn't exist.

BlueRayDick:
This guy had to go back to early 2000's to talk about the OPC incident that was as a result of clashes between northerners and Yorubas

Doesn't diminish what he said,plus in any part of nigeria, people get burned to death for stealing.

Even on this site, I have seen people support jungle justice well well.

Plus the leader of opc at the time of the violence is nowadays a respected tribal leader. No consequences whatsoever.

How many of them in the North have called for the arrest and prosecution of Deborah's killers. Jungle justice isn't peculiar to only Northern Nigeria, it's everywhere and it should be condemned while perpetrators are brought to book. But killing in the name of blasphemy is the issue, there are so many cases of these killings in recent times and it should have no place in modern societies.

I

Ttalk:
What picture are you trying to paint today when terrorist in the name of religion has set the country ablase.

What should concern you and the northern leaders should've the shame and embarrassment your region has brought up on the country.

The enormous security funds that goes into quenching the fire your leaders ignited through the introduction of Sharia that has formed the foundation where all other vices tap it's root.

You like other northern elders have suddenly woken up when the US signify interest to help the perplexed FG terminate the terror perpetrators in Nigeria.

Your region who through late Buhari demanded that foreign aids should be exclusively channel to the north is today crying like bush baby about soverenity which the bandits, killer herdsmen and BH have denied Nigerian space.

How do you justify a region who during ordinary protest, openly display Russian flag in Nigeria soil be talking about soverenity?

It is glaringly safe to say every northerner is a bandit sympathiser and see nothing unusual in the way bandit have taken over their region.

This is not the time to preach about the Southern vices, but a time when you should roll out a megaphone to compel your terror army to stop killing and kidnapping our vulnerable school children

Instead of addressing the issue without tears, you are here doing exactly what he is talking about. Can one conclude that the whole south nigeria are terrorists sympathizers by virtue of the compliance to IPOB orders?