Tenants of Waddle Street, Calabar South local government area of Cross River State, flogged their landlord, Mr Obong Ete, with horse whips for stealing from them.
The flogging took place on Sunday, an hour before his tenants and other neighbours were about to depart to church.
Residents of the area complained that the 30-year-old landlord, who is still a bachelor, had been terrorising them almost every night.
A resident of the area, Mr Daniel Akpan, claimed that the landlord, despite possessing his late parents’ inheritance, steals tenants’ valuables, including foodstuffs like yams and plantations.
“Obong Ete has been doing this for a long time. It is good that he is again publicly disgraced. He doesn’t want to repent. Many times, youth leaders and vigilante groups have traced stolen items to his apartment and beaten him up. I am surprised that he has refused to change.”
The second tenant, Esther Eyo, said, “We learnt from his family that he once stole from a church, and worshippers laid curses on him. This might probably be why he can’t even control himself.”
Another tenant who resides in the area, Stanley Edem, alleged that the landlord had once burgled their houses and that curses were placed on him.
The landlord was subsequently handed over to the Mbukpa police station after receiving severe beatings.
But in a swift reaction to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Irene Ugbo condemned the beatings, stressing that all the youths needed to have done was to arrest the accused and hand him over to the police for necessary action, as no one has right to take the law into his hands.
