Every day, stories splattered across newspapers are the same! ‘Politician John stole 10 billion Naira.’ Sneers emanate from shops and houses as this news is soaked in by ordinary Nigerians: “God go punish all these people,” they say “our leaders are bad,” and that’s where it ends. The topic is dropped on tables until they are comfortable enough to go back to again. But when a petty thief is caught, people’s timid snares turn to angry claws, and they transfigure into gods and cast down their own punishment. They put tires round the supposed “petty” thief’s neck, beat him to pulp and burn him to death. Then they go back to their houses satisfied with their newly acquired status as an independent arm of the justice department.
Imagine if the same anger was channeled to vehemently demanding accountability from politicians and a system that was orchestrated to steal from them (not just their money, but their future), then maybe newspapers wouldn’t be filled with corruption scandals and maybe, just maybe, our system would finally agree to work.
Yesterday, an angry mob around Badagry was said to have beaten up a child and burnt him to death, because he allegedly stole garri.
According to the Nigerian constitution in Section 33(1), “Every person has the right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.” But some Nigerian citizens have erected their own courts on streets and in marketplaces, mainly because the system allows it.
This takes us back to the infamous “Aluu4” who were stripped naked, beaten and burnt alive because they were suspected to have stolen a “laptop.”A police man who was present was caught hitting them with the butt of his gun. The presence of the police officer and his participation can be linked to the claims that police officers or security forces in Nigeria foster the persistent practice of jungle justice. Sometimes the police force joins the party by supporting the mob, or they are relaxed and too unconcerned to respond to the matter.
Jungle justice is prevalent in the Nigerian society. This is mainly because people believe that the judiciary will not pass out judgment to the accused or the police would, by themselves, pervert justice. Hence the saying ?” In fact, the popular saying “justice is for the rich” can be easily equated to the Nigerian society. These mobs are simply the response to deprivation of justice. If there was assurance that a criminal would be treated fairly and according to the law, then why would someone willingly take laws into their hands? The distrust of the system by Nigerians has birthed a system where the vulnerable are put at the mercy of mobs because the elite are too far for them to reach.
In hindsight, if the government doesn’t gain back the trust of the people, acts like this would continue to happen and vulnerable people like the “7-year-old” boy would dance to the drums that a lax system has continued to beat.
