Angry youths of Aka Offot community in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital have set ablaze a petty thief, said to be part of a syndicate specialising in dispossessing unsuspecting members of the public of phones, cash, laptops and raping many innocent young girls.
LEADERSHIP Friday gathered from a local resident of the community, Inyeneobong Umoh, an eye witness, that following a tip – off, the youths who were mobilised, laid ambush and seized him in the act, while other accomplices fled.
He said: “Cases of pretty stealing of phones, laptops, cash and raping of young unsuspecting girls around the community and the Udo Udoma Banking Layout have become alarmingly high, forcing the community youths to lay ambush, which eventually paid off with the arrest of one of them.”
He added that the angry youths defied police warning against jungle justice following rampant cases of such incidences in the community and other parts of Uyo metropolis including Itam, Atiku Abubakar, Idoro road and the Ibom Plaza axis.
“The young man was burnt at Aka Etinan, but he ran away from the spot with tyre on his neck and was intercepted at the Aka junction and several machete cuts inflicted on him before he finally breathed his last,” the eyewitness said.
However, protesting residents and business owners have called on the state sanitation and waste management agency led by Prince Akpan’ Ikim, to evacuate the decomposing body to allow businesses and other human activities to flow seamlessly.
“If this man is not taken away from this place, he will start to decompose and the entire area will be deserted, so government should come and take him away fast,” one of the residents said.
Meanwhile, a community leader in Uyo, Sir Joseph Umoh has advised against jungle justice, saying no one should stain his hands with the blood of someone else no matter the situation.
He condemned several acts of jungle justices in recent times across the state, even as he warned youths to refrain from crime.
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