By Desire Emmanuel
A criminal was lynched to death by residents of a community in Niger State after a sack containing three AK-47 rifles, six cartridges and 104 bullets were recovered at an accident scene involving him and his accomplice.
The accomplice however died on the spot during the accident.
It was gathered that on February 17 around 9.50 p.m., a report received from Gawu-Babangida Divisional Headquarters indicated that while the police patrol team of the division was conducting a stop and search along Boyi-Sarki/Toll gate area, a distress call was received.
The call revealed that two criminals on a motorcycle coming from Tafa area of Kaduna State and heading towards Abuja axis were involved in a lone accident around Toll gate after running into road construction/diversion barrier.
The patrol team was said to have moved to the scene, while some residents in the area also rushed to the accident scene to render assistance.
On getting to the scene, a sack was recovered from them and when searched, three AK-47 rifles with six magazines and 104 ammunition were found in it.
“Unfortunately, one of the men died on the spot, and during an effort to rescue the second person from the scene to the hospital, he was lynched by the mob to death. The corpses were moved to the general hospital morgue in Suleja,” the command said in a statement on Thursday, February 19.
The Commissioner of Police, Adamu Abdullahi Elleman, while condemning the act of jungle justice meted on the criminal, stated that the man would have helped the police to unravel the source of the rifle and their aim, rather than resorting to self-help approach.
The state police command has been grappling with the activities of various criminal groups including armed robbers, terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, among others, terrorising residents of some parts of the state.
Some of those arrested had been charged to various courts after the conclusion of the investigations.
