Vigilantes Roast 40 Suspected Kidnappers :Jungle Justice
...Mad Men Feast on Bodies
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FOR many months, kidnappers have held the South East geo-political Zone hostage. Every now and then, stories break about important dignitaries who have been abducted and the ransoms they are paying. It has grown so rampant, leaving the residents at the whims and caprices of these kidnap gangs, which seemed to be flourishing in the zone. Though official statistics are not available, there are insinuations that the kidnap industry in the South East geo-political Zone may have exceeded three trillion naira and counting until the recent heated manhunt inflamed by the abduction of four journalists in the zone a few weeks back. That abduction, has in many ways changed the face of kidnapping.
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Aside the heavy presence of military and police men, dotting many communities in the South East, National Daily Weekend 's intelligence revealed that the residents now seem to be more in a hurry than ever to nip the menace in the bud. And they are relying on the use of vigilante groups, constituted and armed by the residents.
The decision to adopt the vigilante system in curbing crime, we learnt stemmed from the success recorded by the now outlawed Bakassi Boys, which literally banished crime from the zone some 10 years ago.
“The South East used to be riddled with stories of crime in the late 90s, until the advent of the dreaded Bakassi Boys. That action, banished all the bad people from the east to other places, which made the zone relatively quiet until recently. That is what informed the recent adoption of vigilante in the fight against these kidnappers,” a source told National Daily Weekend.
Despite the fact that the Federal and state governments have strengthened the efforts of the Police and other security apparatuses, the communities are counting on the potency of jungle justice in stemming the tide.
However, the action appears to be leaving a lot of sour tastes in the mouths of suspected kidnappers and relatives, it has been exposed. From Anambra State to Imo and Abia States, there seems to be this thick screen of tension beclouding the clime of anyone that is labelled “kidnapper.”
An Onitsha resident who spoke to this newspaper under anonymity said there is a general agreement that whoever is caught in the act should be made to pay the ultimate price, in the cruellest available way.
“It is good. I commend the way these things are being done now. The authorities have said it that whoever is caught should be killed instantly. And that has sent shivers down the spines of the kidnappers. They know the consequences. I believe this is more effective than arresting them and handing them over to the police, who will take them to court, only for them to be granted bail, after they have paid money. With this instant lynching, everyone involved in the crime is afraid, and they have no option than to leave town”, said the source.
Abia State, with its high rate of kidnapping, seems to also have the highest case of jungle justice administration. National Daily Weekend gathered that in the past two weeks, no fewer than 40 kidnappers have met their waterloo in the hands of either security agents or members of the vigilante groups dotting the state. In Abala, a community, notorious for the fabrication of guns, the joint military patrol deployed by government is said to be recording unprecedented success as a result of the tactic they have deployed in tackling the crime.
“You know that is close to the town where the four journalists were abducted. At the last count, several of those involved in the kidnapping of the journalists have been arrested and taken to Umuahia. Initially, the presence of the military was not working but they have learnt to be going undercover, without uniforms, interacting with the locals, who give out vital information about the location of the hoodlums. That is the system that has helped them to dislodge most of the kidnapping gangs”, a source divulged.
In Isiala Ngwa, National Daily Weekend scooped that the effort is also paying off. In three days, five kidnapping suspects were lynched in a rather bizarre manner in two communities. Though fears that innocent people may be mistakenly killed in the process were raised, the locals however insist that proper checks are made before the vigilante group members swing into action.
In the Local Government Headquarters in Omoba, where an only child was killed and burnt for his activities in kidnapping, a member of the vigilante group told this newspaper that they usually confess their sins before they are killed.
“The vigilante will not just kill anybody. Like the case of an only child who was burnt a few days back for his involvement in kidnapping, he confessed that he took part in the crime and even mentioned the names of other members of his gang. He also confessed that he was the person who fired the shot that killed their victim. He helped in the arrest of two others after describing how their attempt to kidnap one woman failed in the neighbouring village. So efforts are made to ascertain that innocent people are not just lynched,” he said.
This particular incident, National Daily Weekend scooped was also spectacular, because, while the boy was making his confession, he slipped and fled at the slightest chance into the premises of St Barnabas Anglican Church, Omoba, disrupting the service in the process. But the vigilante men were said to have besieged the church, where he went to seek refuge in the altar.
“The priest was surprised. He was at the middle of prayers when that happened. But the members of the vigilante explained to him why they were there, and he prayed over it, and left the way for the mob to take the kidnapper out and kill, before he was roasted with tyre and petrol.”
Barely 72 hours later National Daily Weekend gathered that four more suspected kidnappers were also picked up at various points in the town and roasted.
Of course, the trend presents different spectacles for different people. While the residents could be seeing it as a means to an end of their misery and helplessness, the insane minds dotting the town are having a feast.
A source told this newspaper how starving mad people savoured the barbecued flesh of the roasted kidnappers, leaving only bones and uncooked bowels for interment!
But it is not yet uhuru for everyone. People are still suspicious that necessary efforts need to be put in place to forestall a reprisal attack from the kidnappers. In so many Ngwa communities, National Daily Weekend was told how traditional rulers and other prominent sons who dared to speak against the trend have been tortured to death by kidnappers.
“In Abala, the Eze was killed when he told the boys that what they were doing was bad. In Mba town, another pensioner was killed in the presence of his wife when he spoke against kidnapping. In another town, a pastor was shot inside his church, simply because he told his congregation that money realized from ransom is evil money,” a source said.
Will the ugly situation simmer down? Expectations are high as 2011 elections approach, considering that the governors in the affected states have collected security votes running into billions of naira in the past years. At least, they will do all in their power to make the residents sleep with their two eyes closed; to prove that the sums in question were not just squandered.
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Source:National Daily.
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