By Esther Onyegbula

As our society gradually loses its humanity, people take the law into their own hands when they dish out horrific punishment in the course of administering jungle justice on those they pronounced guilty. Unfortunately, innocent people aren’t spared sometimes.

•Iniubong…after attack

They are tried not in a law court but in the courts of irate mobs and street urchins that apprehend, prosecute and pronounce judgement on them after which they are lynched or, in some cases where the victims are females, pepper is poured in their private parts. Perpetrators of jungle justice assume the role of the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge.

From Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt to Kebbi, and Uyo to Kano, tales of lynching of alleged thieves and kidnappers are commonplace. For stealing a mere phone, a motorcycle or female panties, which has suddenly become rampant, jungle justice is served fast and hot.

About one year ago, at Urua Ekpa Junction in Akwa Ibom State, a suspected thief met his end in the hands of an angry mob which caught him while allegedly attempting to steal a motorcycle. He was beaten mercilessly and burnt alive before the arrival of policemen.

Also sometime last year, precisely on February 2, 2018, a suspected motorcycle thief was burnt to death by a mob in Yawuri, Kebbi State.

Another suspect, who allegedly attempted to steal a motorcycle in front of a mosque in Kuje Market, Abuja was caught and set on fire by some traders also sometime last year.

False accusation

There are cases of individuals believed to be innocent who have been lynched by being burnt alive or stripped naked and paraded naked on the streets after they were falsely accused.

One of such victims, a young man identified as Temitope Adeoye, was burnt to death after he was said to have been wrongly accused of being a thief at Cele- Ijesha area of Lagos State on Monday, February 11, 2019.

It was learned that immediately Temitope, who worked at Tincan Island, Apapa Port and was on his way from office that evening, had disembarked at Cele – Ijesha bus-stop, and was about to mount the commercial motorcycle that will take him home, when some boys in the area started shouting “thief, thief” and pointing at him.

Before he could say anything, he was rough handled, beaten up, stabbed and then set ablaze.

He was said to have left behind a pregnant girlfriend.

Suspects who allegedly humiliated their victim and poured pepper in her private part after one of them alleged that she stole his phone

Paraded naked

In another incident which happened on Monday, November 5, 2018 at Usenten village in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, a victim, Iniubong Essien, was allegedly abducted by one Uduak Godwin Nseobot, alias King Pele, a Councillor representing Southern II, Ward 6 in the LGA, and his wife, Aniedi, and taken to the community square where she was accused of stealing some of the money sprayed on them during their marriage which took place that weekend.

The allegation jostled her as, according to her, she never suspected her friend and the husband could make any claim that could be so detrimental to her person. Apparently, she was helpless and death stared her in the face as the villagers, allegedly at the prompting of the Council lawmaker, stripped her naked, tied a rope around her waist, battered her with sticks and stones and paraded her round the village.

This, she narrated, was the worst nightmare of her life as the incident left her traumatized and deeply depressed. For several weeks thereafter, she could not go to public places as she did not know who may have seen her naked body as posted by her attackers on the social media while she was being falsely paraded as a thief.

Iniubong said: “Being a friend of the bride, I helped her to sell the uniforms (aso-ebi) to our fellow friends and I attended the wedding and assisted in serving food while one of the friends of the bride, Gloria, assisted the couple in picking money sprayed on them during the nuptial dance. The service point was at the back of the hall.   And I left in the company of other friends when they were giving the vote of thanks, because I had another traditional wedding to attend in the same neighbourhood.

‘’The day after the event, I was invited to the couple’s home at Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo, and I informed them that I would not be able to visit them and jokingly told them to continue to enjoy their honey moon and that I would see them later and render account of the wedding uniforms I handled for them. I was still resting on the bed when Aniedi came and knocked and I opened the door for her and she came in and thanked me for my support during their wedding. She then invited me to come and meet the husband who was in the car with Gloria and one other person.

‘’When I got to the car, they asked me to enter and I said it was an opportunity for me to go the ATM so that I could withdraw the money and give to them, which I did. But instead of taking me back to my house, Pele (friend’s husband) took me to the village and he started calling people and, immediately, a crowd gathered and they started asking me to confess where I kept the money. And I asked them which money?   At this point he (Nseobot) was grinding charcoal to rub on my body and he ordered his boys to strip me. And his PA told him, ‘Where is your gun? Let us finish this woman, whether she has not heard about Pele in Eket’. The PA added that nothing would happen if l was killed as his boss had the backing of prominent politicians in the state. I kept pleading with them all this while to let me go, but they refused.

“He (Councillor) told me that he would kill, bury me and nobody would know. And I told them that if they killed me, the truth would one day come out and my innocent blood would not dry in Ibiono. “They broke bottles on my head and assaulted me. And my nude pictures were taken by the Councillor and the people and shared on social media”.

Iniubong said after much pleading, they agreed to take her to a herbalist for what she described as ‘’native finding”, and the villagers boarded four mini buses and other cars, and, as they were going, a friend of the Councillor called and warned him of the dire consequence of his unholy acts and he immediately disengaged the villagers and made a detour to Uyo to the Police Headquarters at Ikot Akpan Abia and handed her over to the police.

The police, moved by the bruises and injuries she sustained, immediately sent her to a clinic for medical treatment, while one of the suspects (Councillor Nseobot) was arrested and granted bail.

Iniubong’s lawyers, Bailey Chambers, raised a strongly worded petition to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State CID, alleging assault, battery and threat to life as well as attempted murder of their client by Nseobot and his wife.

But up till now, her alleged attackers are walking free.

Torture over alleged phone theft

Also some weeks ago, a young lady was reportedly attacked by a mob which inserted pepper in her private part after one of them alleged that she stole his phone. The incident, which happened in Benin-City, Edo State, was videoed and uploaded on the social media to the disgust of many who watched the clip.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the barbaric episode started after a man, who had had sex with the young woman in a hotel where they lodged, claimed his phone was missing.

All pleas stating her innocence was allegedly rejected.

Her accuser, it was learnt, dragged her to a native doctor around Ugbiyokho area of Ekehuan Road, Benin, who pronounced her guilty.

Ignoring her claims of innocence, a mob gathered, stripped her naked and poured pepper in her private part in a bid to force her to admit to the crime. Although some of the perpetrators of the barbaric act were arrested by the police, it did not undo the damage, pain and humiliation they caused the victim.

Meanwhile, the pouring of pepper in the private parts of victims didn’t begin today and isn’t limited to mob action or jungle justice as there have been reports of men pouring pepper in the private parts of their wives over allegation of infidelity.

About two decades ago, a middle- aged woman, Foluke Olayiwola, dragged her husband, Festus Olayiwola, to an Ojo Grade A Customary Court, for divorce after the husband allegedly poured pepper in her private part and also trying to strangulate her.

According to Foluke, Festus committed the act of torture after one of their numerous quarrels in the middle of the night.

Even kids are not spared of this dehumanising act as we have seen mothers pouring pepper in the private parts of their daughters as a form of punishment.

A business woman, Mercy Segun, 42, was arraigned at a Karmo Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja for allegedly beating her daughter and pouring pepper into her private part.

The mother, who resided at Idu Gbagyi, Karmo, faced a three-count charge of criminal force, assault and causing hurt to a minor.

Also, a five-year-old girl was, some years back, hospitalised in Omu Ijelu-Ekiti, in Oye council area of Ekiti State after her aunt, Esther Agbundu, allegedly sprayed pepper on her private for sharing her daughter’s food.

•Temitope Adeoye… killed at Cele-Ijesha, Lagos

Why jungle justice?

Speaking on the issue of jungle justice, Dare Olalekan, a criminologist, said many cases had been swept under the carpet due to the influence of the perpetrators in the society.

“However, I am not in support of jungle justice. But it seems to happen over and over again because people have really lost faith in the law enforcement system in the country. When a crime is committed and you involve our law enforcement agencies, most of the time, nothing is done because the system appears to be compromised. That is justice denied. So people prefer to take the law into their own hands”, Olalekan said.

A senior police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity on the matter because he was not authorised to speak to the press, however, had a slightly different opinion on the matter, saying jungle justice is on the increase because of the rising frustration in the land.

“Many persons are moving about with pent up anger and will readily vent it on anyone who makes himself available”, he told Sunday Vanguard.

“It also happens because when perpetrators of jungle justice are not usually punished by the state, others are naturally emboldened to do it. So, to that extent, you can say that the weakness of the law to dispense justice to these perpetrators is an incentive for the increasing incidences of jungle justice.

“Secondly, you can’t divorce lack of faith in the criminal justice system and administration from the increasing cases of jungle justice. There is naturally a nexus. If you are a victim of crime and there is no remedy from the state leveraging on its institutions, you will be forced to resort to self-help when next there is any crime against you or even against another where the chance presents itself. However, the law is clear about punishment for crimes. They (laws) are coded and available. What has been lacking is implementation and effective punishment. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) tries to address some of the lacuna and must be sustained so that justice is always prompt and effective. Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Double impact

On his part, Imafidon Agbonile, a consultant psychiatrist and Head of Clinical Services at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Benin-City, Edo State, spoke about the physical and psychological consequences of jungle justice especially when administered on women.

“First and foremost, there is the physical abuse and, in the same vein, there is the psychological abuse. And of course, as the very physical abuse is going on, the primary, which is the psychological aspect, i.e., fear and all of that, would follow. The torture is only in the short-term but the psychological part of the ordeal would affect her for a very long time if she is not duly treated,” he said.

The expert went on: “The first question l would ask is if the woman is indeed guilty of the allegation; because if she is not guilty but framed, then the trauma would be double which means double impact on her.

“And putting things into their private parts can turn into an infection. Inserting pepper into the private parts, depending on the kind of pepper, can cause erosion of the vaginal walls. And of course, pulling and beating the person can also be traumatic, but that isn’t so bad, because if they are treated; they would be okay at the end, but that is not the case with psychological trauma”.

Talking about rehabilitation of jungle justice victims, the consultant psychiatrist said: “A lot of issues can be generated after a traumatic experience such as this; what happened to the lady physically cannot be compared to what awaits her in the future if she is not duly treated psychologically.   She can get back to living a normal life if she is treated but if she is left without treatment, there would be issues later in life.

“If the victim is innocent, then she is going to go into shock of being accused wrongly and fear sets in. But the one that causes more damage is the fact that these episodes are done publicly, in the full glare. So, you are going to now have psychological consequences, and also social consequences; a long time social abuse.

“For example, like the video that went viral and everybody saw the nakedness of that woman, of course there is going to be a big problem for her in the future. Anytime she is out there, she is going to be wondering whether the people around recognise her. And so there would be social isolation, and social isolation affects her relationships. This would affect her whether she stole or not. And this brings us to the traumatic stress; she is going to go through what we call post-traumatic stress. There are three cardinal lines to the problem of post-traumatic stress. One, the person keeps going through the trauma over and over again in her head. She may not be able to sleep well because she would be having a nightmare. Two, there is the avoidance. She avoids anything that reminds her of the trauma and that is why I mentioned social isolation. She would want to be indoors, anything that has to do with the public scares her. That’s a major issue because it can affect her economically.

“If she is a worker, how is she going to work? If she is a student, how is she going to face her studies? This can also lead to flashbacks, thoughts that come to her head; hence she may resort to using hard drugs to calm her anxiety. “Now, the third aspect is called hyper-arousal. This is simply a state of extreme alert for no reason. For instance, armed robbers visit a neighbourhood of a person who had suffered armed robbery attack in the past. There is the certainty that he would worry more because he has been robbed before! Of course, you cannot sleep!

“That would be happening to the person continuously; that is what we call a shot of adrenaline, the heart is beating very fast! When you hear anything close to the sound in your mind, you jump! It is a debilitating state because it burns all her strength; so most of the time the victim is tired, she can’t do much because of anxiety and fear of the unknown. Hence, it is tiring and it can be chronic and this thing can go on and on if not treated”.