An angry mob, on Wednesday, lynched and set ablaze two suspected robbers near Sokoto Road, Main Market, Onitsha, Anambra State.
According to eyewitnesses in the area, the mob first lynched the suspects before setting them on fire.
An eyewitness said: “The tricycle operator had dropped a passenger and his goods in the market, and as he was about to move, those boys approached him and attempted to dispossess him of his money before the mob descended on them, lynched them before setting them ablaze.”
The Anambra State Police Command’s spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, while confirming the incident, said that the state Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, has condemned the act and reiterated his call for members of the public to always take offenders to the nearest police station for necessary actions.
Ikenga said: “The Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye, has condemned the act and reiterated his call for members of the public to always take offenders to the nearest police station for necessary policing actions, particularly the conduct of appropriate investigations.
“The CP has, therefore, ordered a thorough investigation of the incident.
“Meanwhile, preliminary information revealed that the two male suspects, who were later simply identified as Omaume and Monday, are members of a notorious armed robbery gang led by one Itanda (male), already in the Correctional Service Custodial Centre.
“The gang is alleged to be responsible for several attacks and the dispossession of traders and unsuspecting victims of their personal belongings at the Main Market, Onitsha.”
