Angry youths on Friday burned down suspected cult members in Jenta Adamu community, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The spokesman of the state police command, DSP Alabo Alfred, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, said it happened around 9:20am and warned citizens to desist from taking the law into their own hands.
Although the police did not give the number of the victims, sources from the area told Daily Trust that the victims were two.
Narrating how the incident occurred, Alfred said, “The command received a disheartening report in the early hours of today, the 29th day of November, 2024 reporting a mob action which took place in Jenta Adamu, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
“The report which was received through a distress call from a concerned citizen of Jenta Adamu, stated that at approximately 09:20am, a group of yet-to-be identified cult members had invaded their community and were attempting to rob law-abiding citizens of their belongings.
“In response to the call, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police immediately ordered the Divisional Police Officer, “A” Division Jos, to deploy police officers and detectives to the scene and begin investigation into the matter.
“Upon arrival, our team discovered that an angry mob had taken the law into their own hands and pursued the invaders, mobbed them and set them ablaze. The police in collaboration with the leadership of Jos North Local Government Area have evacuated the burnt bodies from the scene and deposited them at the hospital morgue.
“Upon intensifying our investigation into the incident, two locally fabricated pistols, believed to belong to the unidentified cult members, were recovered from the scene.
But Samuel John, a member of the community, told our correspondent that the suspected victims were phone snatchers who earlier in the morning, reportedly snatched someone’s phone in the area and killed the owner.
John said, “The suspects had around 5:30am attacked a member of the community and killed him. Upon hearing the gunshots by the suspects, youths in their numbers mobilised, arrested and took them to the riverside where they placed tires on them and burned them to death. They killed a community member, prompting the youth to take the action.”
The police command however cautioned that as a civilized society, whenever suspects are arrested by citizens, they should be immediately handed over to the relevant security agency to ensure that justice is served in accordance with the provisions of the Plateau State Penal Code.
The police warned that any person or group caught executing jungle justice would be severely dealt with in accordance with the law.