The Terrible Injustice Of Mob Justice

 By Kenechukwu Obiezu

Nigeria’s seemingly unstoppable guillotine of mob justice has claimed yet another victim  with the brutal killing of Mr. Fwinbe Thomas Gofwan by a mob in Jos for stealing a car he owned, by all accounts. In Nigeria, the mob that has shown itself lurking and lethal in Sokoto State, the Federal Capital Territory, as well as Delta State usually moves with such lightning ferocity whenever there is a sacrifice to be made.

In May 2022, Deborah Samuel, a student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, had life brutally snuffed out of her by a mob in the state over a WhatsApp audio message. More than a year later, the police is yet to bring the culprits to book. History was to repeat itself in Sokoto State in June 2023 when Usman Buda, a butcher, was lynched by a mob over allegations of blasphemy, to further present Sokoto as the state where people are freely killed by feral mobs.

If anyone thought the problem was limited to Sokoto, they were exposed as sorely mistaken by events which transpired in Jos on Monday, September 25, 2023. On that day, Fwinbe Thomas Gofwan, a 35-year-old student of the prestigious College of St. Joseph, Vom, was making his routine business rounds when he was accused of stealing a vehicle he has owned since last year. In the twinkle of an eye, he was stoned and clubbed to death by a mob reportedly said to be chiefly constituted by Okada riders.

His death immediately threw his family, friends and community into mourning, with many deploring the brutal killing of a young man loved by many. The Police is said to have arrested the prime suspect. While nothing can be taken away from the mechanics of justice which would no doubt go a long way in comforting the living and the dead, this would stick for a long time. 

If mob justice has claimed yet another scalp in Nigeria, it is because not enough has been done to serve justice to past victims of mob justice. Among many Nigerians, especially the countless those who cannot count themselves among the high and mighty, there is an overwhelming sense of frustration and even dread at the spectacular failures of justice. 

For many Nigerians, justice here is not simply as it should be. It is not just agonisingly slow to come, but when the circumstances and finances are clear and firm, justice is available to the highest bidder.  So, it is easy to feel the distrust many people have for the law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies here.  

This distrust usually morphs into deadly frustration when the mob gets to a suspect before the police do. For the mob in such situations, the police would either be too slow to prosecute, or too corrupt to prosecute. So, they go in really hard, stoning, beating, clubbing, maiming, or even lynching. Whenever a mob execution is being carried out, apart from the executioners, there are typically the spectators whose role is to  watch and take pictures. 

That many people in Nigeria are hardly horrified by mob justice which is usually the gory killing of another speaks to a society that has not just lost its compassion, but has also taken leave of its senses. At its core, mob justice is a failure of justice. When sticks, hooks, stones, clubs, fire and other instruments of death become the favourite tools of dispensing justice rather than the refined tools of the law, justice fails to serve the victims, and catch the perpetrators.

Maybe if those who killed Deborah were cooling their heels in some government correctional facility having been convicted of their heinous crimes, those who killed Fwinbe would have been forced into a rethink. Perhaps they would have been forced to shelve their murderous rage and leave the clubs, stones, and sticks where they should be. Fwinbe’s agonising death also brings into question the issue of law enforcement in a country as diverse as Nigeria, particularly the response time of security agents in situations of life and death. Perhaps, if the police had responded in seconds when the killers descended on Fwinbe, he would still be alive as the murderous pack would have been dispersed.

Now that the deed has been done, the Nigeria Police should do all they can to fish out his killers and bring them to book. All those who cast a stone at or wielded a stick at an innocent young man must be made to face the law.

When they are arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated, it would be a damning rebuke of all those who made an innocent man die in the most agonising manner. Better still, it will be justice, served pure and undiluted.

*Obiezu is a public affairs analyst (keneobiezu@gmail.com)