By Samuel Olomu
Mob/Jungle justice is a grievous and vile practice which has now become an accepted practice as a result of the failure of the Nigerian Criminal Institutions and agencies to prevent or punish those who engage in such practices. This inhumane practice has yet become a normal thing to many who are either ignorant of the law or who knows the law but are blindfolded by their emotions and the principle of retaliation for injuries or damage – an eye for an eye punishment. This essay highlights the vulnerability of citizens to the vagaries of the heinous practice of jungle justice in Nigeria and the grave danger this practice poses to human right of every citizen.
Jungle justice is awarded on offences which includes violent criminal offences such as murder, assault, armed robbery, rape, kidnapping and on other offences against property – theft, pick-pocket, fraud and misappropriation. Also, in some areas in Nigeria, jungle justice is also inflicted on some offences such as blasphemy and violation of the rules of religious texts, magical theft of genitals, witchcraft, accusations, violation of local customs and taboos (which are not specified as a crime under Nigerian Law).
However, this excruciating act is championed by a group of bystanders, ‘street guys’, ‘garage boys’, etc., who serve as the witness, accuser, judge and executor at the same time. Instead of living the matter to be decided by a competent court of jurisdiction subject to a weightier claim they rather deploy machetes, stones, sticks, and tires, petrol and other harmful substances in their version of justice dispensation on a supposed innocent person. Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution explicitly states that: “every person who is charged of a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty” so the onus of proving a supposed innocent person as guilty does not resides with anyone other than the court of law.
It is also imperative to state the provision of Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution which assures every citizen of the ‘right to life’ and punitively prohibits the deprivation of life except in execution of a sentence by a competent court of law. Besides, jungle justice violates the right to fair hearing of a citizen as guaranteed in all instances under section 36(1) of the 1999 constitution. No one wants to be that hapless citizen who was not given the right to fair hearing (by explaining what really happened). And according to a Yoruba proverb – “agbejo enikan da, agba osika nii” i.e., “the one who listen to one side in adjudicating is a supervillain”. Not giving a victim the opportunity to fair hearing is against the Greek legal term “audi alteram partem” which translates; “hear the other party”. Similar provision is also seen in section 252 and 253 of the Criminal Code which outlaw assault in all its ramifications.
Regretfully, the most painful part of the whole story is the fact that citizens are the one violating the rights of fellow citizen, this is sad. No one will like to be prosecuted without being listened to then why do citizen, beat, stone and even go to the extent of burning people alive for offences they might not even commit. The funny part is that some people even join in the lynching when they actually don’t know the offence committed by the victim. It is therefore important to note that there is practically no justice in a system that inflicts the same punishment for allegedly stealing a “table water” and “murder”. This is a grave injustice!
In conclusion, any system or group of people that punish an offender without appropriate hearing of witnesses and suspects is unjust, indecent, unfair and lacks the backing of the law of the land. Such system should be combatted and ambushed with all the mechanism of the law so as not to live the right of citizen dangling on the tree of unrealities.
Samuel Olomu writes from Lagos
