President Bola Tinubu has condemned the murder of travelling hunters mistaken for kidnappers by local vigilantes in the Uromi community of Esan North Local Government of Edo State.
The President in a statement by his Special Adviser (Information and Strategy), Bayo Onanuga on Friday, expressed shock at the dastardly act.
Tinubu however directed police and other security agencies to conduct swift and thorough investigations, and punish the suspected culprits.
“President Tinubu commiserated with the families of the affected victims and assured them that criminals would not be allowed to shed the blood of innocent Nigerians,” the statement wrote in part, adding that the President noted that jungle justice has no place in Nigeria.
Tinubu noted that all Nigerians have the freedom to move freely in any part of the country. President Tinubu then commended the Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and community leaders in Uromi for their swift response to avert the escalation of tension.
Tinubu’s reaction comes after Police authorities in Edo said they had arrested 14 suspects over the killing of the travellers.
The victims were gruesomely murdered by a mob on the suspicion of being criminals. The travellers were said to be hunters.
According to the Edo State Police Command, the victims were 16 in number. But the spokesman of the command Moses Yamu said some persons have been arrested in connection with the attack.
“In the course of investigations, fourteen (14) suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime, while an emergency meeting was convened with stakeholders and members of the community to address the situation,” Yamu said in a statement on Friday.
Narrating how the incident happened, the Edo Police Command said it occurred when a “truck with registration number KKF 225 XA coming from Port Harcourt, conveying 25 travellers from Elele, a suburb of Rivers State, was accosted by some vigilante group members at Uromi, and some of the travelers who found in possession of locally made dane guns were arrested”.
“While this was ongoing, some vigilante members raised an alarm of them being suspected kidnappers, which led some members and passersby in the community to attack and lynch sixteen (16) of the occupants while the truck conveying them was equally burnt.
“Police operatives attached to the Uromi Division got wind of the incident and swiftly stormed the scene where ten (10) of the travelers were rescued, two of whom sustained various degrees of injuries and were rushed to a hospital where they are currently positively responding to treatment.”
Yamu said a unit of Police Mobile Force personnel with other command tactical teams had been deployed to the area to forestall a breakdown of law and order.
The police said “investigations continue” over the incident and cautioned “against any form of reprisal attacks”.
