By: Zion Ebuka
The killing of the Hausa/Fulani ‘hunters’ at Uromi, Edo State is a complicated issue. Tragically, out of 27 of the Hausa/Fulani ‘hunters’, only 5 were rescued alive when the police arrived at the scene. That is to say, 22 men were lynched and burnt to death. These were people’s fathers, people’s sons, people’s husbands, people’s relatives. You can see why I condemn(ed) the jungle justice given to them.
But here are the complications:
1. Does the law of the country permit the movement of citizens from place to place with weapons such as guns and machetes? No! If no, why were the men in possession of those dangerous weapons?
2. They were hunters from Kano/Katsina State, and their hunting base is Rivers (since they were traveling from Port Harcourt to Kano). Does Rivers State have more bushes and bush animals than Kano and Katsina States?
3. In this current state of the nation where people are whisked into the bushes and millions of naira are demanded for their release, is it still sensible to travel with weapons from state to state?
4. Why were the weapons concealed in a truck, and it was a cement truck? If they were legit hunters who needed to move their hunting equipment from state to state, wouldn’t it be nice to do it some other way to avoid suspicions?
5. If it were some Igbo or Edo men travelling in a group who were caught in the north with guns and machetes by northerners, would they survive it no matter what they pleaded to be, hunters or anything?
The summary of everything is that the government has failed to provide security for its citizens. Citizens are the ones trying to protect their lives by any means since our security forces aren’t helping matters.
Look at our Enugu/Ugwuogo Nike Opi Nsukka road and the kidnappings happening there almost every day even with over 20 security checkpoints on that road. If by chance a group of boys who hail from any place at all are seen patrolling within that vicinity and they have guns with them, and they claim to be hunters, who would listen to them?
I still maintain my stand, jungle justice is never the best option, but to stop jungle justice, our security agencies must rise up to their responsibility. We need to trust them when a suspected criminal is handed over to them for investigation, interrogation and prosecution. Until that is done, it won’t be easy to stop jungle justice.
