Mob Justice Is Murder, Offenders Risk Death Penalty, IGP Disu Warns

Mob Justice Is Murder, Offenders Risk Death Penalty, IGP Disu Warns
Orders full-scale probe into mob killings across Nigeria
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The Inspector-General of Police, Tunde Disu, has warned Nigerians against resorting to jungle justice, declaring that anyone who assaults or kills a suspect through mob action will be prosecuted for murder.

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Eko Hot Blog reports that Disu said mob attacks could no longer be treated as community action or justified as an attempt to punish suspected criminals, warning that perpetrators could face the death penalty prescribed for murder under Nigerian law.

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The IGP made the declaration in a viral video while addressing the growing concern over extrajudicial killings across the country.

He said anyone who assaults or summarily executes a suspected criminal as part of a mob could be held criminally responsible for murder.

“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,” Disu stated.

The police chief also warned that liability would not be limited to those who physically attack victims.

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According to him, people who incite or organise mob attacks, record and circulate videos of such assaults, or deliberately prevent police officers from intervening could also face prosecution for conspiracy to commit murder, which carries a prison term of up to 14 years.

Disu disclosed that he had directed Commissioners of Police across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to treat every reported case of mob action as homicide.

He ordered the police authorities to conduct comprehensive investigations into such incidents using forensic and intelligence tools available to them.

“We are not going to spare anybody who is involved in mob action. We will do a thorough investigation, and we will take them to court,” he said.

The directive comes amid renewed concerns over extrajudicial killings, including the recent death of 25-year-old University of Jos graduate, Ibrahim Mbaya, who was allegedly beaten to death after being accused of stealing an iPhone 12.

The Nigeria Police Force urged members of the public to hand suspected criminals over to law enforcement authorities rather than taking matters into their own hands.

The police maintained that suspects should be allowed to face due process, stressing that allegations of criminality do not give individuals or groups the right to inflict violence or carry out extrajudicial punishment.