Author(s): Patience Ogbo
Famed for its various tourist sites, most of which highlight the history of the slave trade era, Badagry is also known for its vicious mobs, regular residents who can instantly transform to wild animals at the first scream of “thief!” and mete out the capital punishment on any suspect.
There are no trials, and no questions asked. The development has risen to such proportions that police officers in the area are powerless, and in some cases encourage the mobs.
In
May 2013, Quadri Adisa, got the beating of his life when a mob accused
him of armed robbery. He is still alive to tell the tale.
While the killing has continued to provoke public outcry, the greater horror lies in the fact that video evidence of the murder shows police officers from the Badagry Police Station watching gleefully as the lynching occurred.
Stories behind the story
The late Kazeem had a misunderstanding with a yet-to-be identified man, which led to the mother of the said man rising a false alarm, calling Kazeem and Ifechukwudi armed robbers.
The head of the vigilante group in the community, whose name was given as Mr Ashirigbo, and who was called to arrest the duo, died when his gun discharged as he tried to stuff it inside his pocket on arriving the scene. The bullet hit him in the stomach and he was confirmed dead at a nearby hospital.
Mr Ashirigbo’s death infuriated the villagers, who blamed the two men for it. Instantly, the mob grew as more villagers poured out of their homes as they sensed a lynching. In seconds, planks and stones rained down on the two men. As the bloodied men writhed in agony, the mob delivered the coup de grace by pouring fuel on them and lighting the men up.
The Chelsea FC connection
Samuel Nwankpor, Ifechukwudi’s father, is a shadow of himself. He told Nigerian Telegraph that his son wept whenever English club, Chelsea, lost a match.
“Ifechukwudi was a great fan of Chelsea Football Club,” he said. “Though he was a very quiet person, but he can argue with anybody who brought up anything against Chelsea. He loved going to viewing centres to watch his beloved club play but anytime they lose a match, he would be unhappy and would refuse to eat. His mother even bought him a Chelsea molar which he carries on his neck every time. It may be in the course of watching football in the viewing centre that he met Kazeem.”
Tajudeen Onayemi shared a similar story about his son. “Kazeem loved Chelsea Football Club madly,” he said. “He can do anything for that club. He had two Chelsea hand bands on his wrist. He would not eat for days if Chelsea lost a match. I’m sure was the great love the two of them had for Chelsea that made them to become friends.”
Ifechukuwdi was a graduate of Geology and Mining. He worked as a clearing agent while he waited for his call-up for the national youth service scheme.
Kazeem was an apprentice at an aluminium fabrication shop, and was supposed to have graduated in December 2013.
The two men had gone to Tozukame Village to see another clearing agent on the day they were killed.
Gangsters paradise
Armed robbery has become a weekly occurrence in Tozukame Village, and a robbery was said to have occurred in the community a few days before the men were killed.
In most cases, vigilante groups take the law into their hands and lynch people at the slightest chance.
The vigilante groups are expected to complement the police,; but in most cases they take the laws into their hands. Suspects are supposed to be handed over to the police; but in most cases, when emotions run high, the vigilantes initiate the lynching of said suspects. The villagers, most of whom have been affected by robberies, are quick to take vengeance.
As the case of Onayemi and Nwanikpor suggests, some villagers take advantage of this development to settle scores with perceived enemies as well. Usually, no questions are asked when someone raises an alarm.
Lawyer and police authorities react
Giwa Amu, a human rights activist and lawyer, has urged the Lagos State government to address the issue of lynching in the state.
Reacting to the Badagry lynching, Mr Amu expressed sadness over the role the police officers played and called for their prosecution.
“It was a gruesome murder,” he said. “There is no way we can absolve the police from the increasing spate of mob justice in the country. Those police men should be charged to court for accessory before the fact of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and murder itself. I am not surprised at the behavior of those policemen, because policemen engage in extra-judicial murders, so killing itself does not matter to them. It is a way of the average policeman in this country to carry out extra-judicial killing.
“For a policeman to watch in his presence when such act is being perpetrated shows that we do not have trained men and officers in the Force. Their primary duty was to take those suspects and if they are found wanting, they charge them to court. Also, if they need superior power due to the mob, they should have called for backup but that was not the case. The policemen may not have participated directly but they encouraged it, they connived and consented to it and that was why those men were murdered. It is sad looking at the call for state police and community policing. This shows that we are not ready for state police as this can be used for personal vendetta, so those policemen must be charged to court.”
The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Umar Manko, has set up a special team to investigate the lynching and arrest the perpetrators. As a result of this, most of the villagers in Tozukame have fled their homes but the team has been tasked to fish them out.
“When we saw the video clips and watched the way those boys were killed, we told ourselves that we would be failing in our duties if we fail to bring everyone involved to justice,” Manko said
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