Police Warn Ogun Residents Against Jungle Justice
Abeokuta — The Ogun State Police Command yesterday warned residents of the state against taking laws into their hands through giving jungle justice to crime suspects.
The warning, contained in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, was sequel to the unlawful killing and setting ablaze of two suspected ritualists in Oja Odan area of the state on Saturday.
The statement said:”Ogun state police command wishes to warn the general public that such barbaric and unlawful action will no longer be tolerated.
“In the early hours of Saturday 12th of February 2022, two suspected ritualists were arrested and brought to Oja Odan Divisional headquarters by some vigilant and law-abiding members of the public, with allegation that a fresh human head concealed in a sack was seen with them.
“While the suspects were being interrogated in the station, some unscrupulous elements went and mobilised large number of people who invaded the station aggressively, overwhelmed the police personnel on duty and subsequently hijacked the suspects, beaten them to death and set their corpses ablaze.
“In view of the incident, the command wishes to sound a note of warning to those who are always in the habit of taking laws into their hands to desist from such uncivilised behavior as the command will henceforth be dealing with whoever carried out such action in the most decisive manner.
“A suspect remains a suspect until he/she is convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction no matter how grevious the crime he suspected to have committed might be.
“It is only the court that has the power to impose punishment on anyone found guilty of a crime, not an individual or group of people.
“Therefore, the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered a full scale investigation into the incident with the view to bring to justice those who participated in carrying out the barbaric and unlawful killing of the suspects.
“The CP therefore appealed to members of the public to have confidence in the nation criminal justice system and desist from self- help as such is alien to the law of the land.”
By This Day.
