Bauchi— Bauchi State Police Command, Wednesday, warned people in the state against resorting to ‘jungle justice’ in the handling of suspected criminals.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Haruna Mohammed, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Bauchi that the warning became necessary, following an ugly incident that almost resulted in the death of an innocent person.

Narrating the incident, which occurred on Saturday, the spokesman said one Malam Yau Ahmadu, who was on admission at Reemee Clinic in Bauchi metropolis, had one of his legs amputated.

“The dismembered leg was given to Yau’s brother, one Malam Sale Ahmadu, to go and bury same in the cemetery.
“Sale then wrapped the leg in a polythene bag and hired a commercial motorcyclist to take him to the graveyard.
“Unfortunately, they were accosted by some suspicious persons, who demanded to know the content of the bag.
“Upon discovering the content, they concluded that Sale was a dealer in human parts and instantly pounced on him, beating him to a state of coma,” narrated Mohammed.

He said that but for the timely intervention of the police, who were alerted by a concerned individual, the victim would have been killed.

According to the spokesman, the police investigated the matter and discovered that the victim was innocent.
“This unfortunate incident should serve as a lesson to everybody. People should exercise restraint and hand-over all suspected criminals to the law enforcement agents for thorough investigation,” he advised.

Narrating his ordeal to NAN on Wednesday, the victim said that he suspected that the commercial motorcyclist was responsible for creating the suspicion in the first place.

“I had told the motorcyclist what happened to my brother; we came from Kura village to Bauchi metropolis, and that he is on admission in the hospital.

“I also told him that I did not know the direction of the cemetery so he should take me there.
“He promised to take me there on an agreed fee of N300.00. But soon after we left the hospital, he headed to one area in the outskirt of Bauchi, called Gudun Sayawa.

“He enquired from the residents, the location of the graveyard and a crowd came, demanding to know our mission to the cemetery, and the content of the polythene bag I was holding,” he said.

He added that he had earlier solicited for the assistance of some clerics to help him bury the leg, but was told that he could do it alone since it was just a human part and not a dead body.