Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
Inspector General of Police, Tunde Disu, has directed police commands across Nigeria to treat every case of mob action as homicide, warning that anyone involved in jungle justice will face criminal prosecution.
Disu said the directive applies not only to those who physically assault or kill suspects, but also to individuals who organise, encourage or facilitate mob attacks.
“I have directed all the Commissioners of Police in the 36 states of the federation including the FCT to treat every case of mob action as homicide.
“And to carry out full scale investigations using all the forensic tools and intelligence tools available to the police.
“We are not going to spare anybody who is involved in mob action. We will do a thorough investigation and we will charge them to court.
“We will prosecute them and we will make sure that justice is done. There’s no exception to this.”
The police chief’s warning followed a series of disturbing videos of alleged mob attacks circulating on social media, amid concerns over the continued prevalence of extrajudicial killings across the country.
Disu said Nigerian law provides for severe penalties for murder, citing Section 319 of the Criminal Code and Section 221 of the Penal Code.
“Anybody who assaults or summarily executes a suspected criminal in the name of mob action is guilty of murder. And the punishment for murder is death.
“Section 319 of the Criminal Code and *Section 221 of the Penal Code, both prescribe the death penalty for murder in Nigeria.”
He also warned that criminal liability could extend to people who help organise or facilitate mob violence under Section 516 of the Criminal Code.
“Those who video the event and circulate them, those who take pictures and circulate them, and those who mobilize the crowd, or those who block the police from intervening, all of them are liable.
“They are guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. And the punishment for that is 14 years imprisonment.”
The IGP’s statement comes against the backdrop of the July 26 killing of 25-year-old University of Jos graduate, Ibrahim Mbaya, popularly known as Ibee, who was reportedly attacked in Jos after being accused of stealing an iPhone 12. Police have arrested suspects in connection with the incident.
Disu urged Nigerians to hand suspected criminals over to law enforcement authorities rather than taking matters into their own hands.
Jungle justice remains a recurring security and human rights concern in Nigeria, with rights advocates repeatedly calling for perpetrators of mob killings and those who incite such violence to be brought before the courts.
The Nigeria Police said its new approach would involve detailed investigations using forensic and intelligence resources to identify and prosecute those responsible for mob violence.
