A 25-year-old undergraduate of Delta State University, Ifechukwude Nwainokpor, and his friend, identified simply as Kazeem were attacked and beaten to death by a mob at the Ajara area of Badagry on the ground that their faces looked strange in the neighborhood while policemen watched on
An eight-minute video clip of the gruesome killing showed the two victims handcuffed together. They were covered in their own blood and beaten to death with sticks. Tyres were also put round their necks.
The lynching took place around 3pm on July 21, 2013 in Ajara area of Badagry, a community not far from Nwainokpor’s family home.
Ifechukwude Nwainokpor's father, Samuel, said that his son was arrested while passing through a street in the area but a misunderstanding later ensued and the hoodlums pounced on him and Kazeem.
Father said that it happened because there had been a robbery in Ajara four days earlier, some of the residents were on the lookout for strange faces and so when the youth saw two unknown young men, they accosted them and an argument ensued.
After that the youth called the head of the vigilante group in the area, one Asiribo and it was decided that the boys be taken to the Baale, Agano Oniyon of Agamade Ajara.
But as they were going, Asiribo, while trying to return his gun into its pouch, mistakenly shot himself in the stomach and died. "Asiribo’s death infuriated the youth, who blamed the boys for his death. The mob picked up sticks and beat them to death. Policemen were there,” he said.
The spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said, “The incident is quite pathetic. Even if they were armed robbers, no one has the right to take the life of another. Why then do we have the police and the judiciary?
The Nigerian police as well as the law condemn mob action and jungle justice. Two of the policemen identified as Inspector Adefemi Ashogbon, who is the station officer of the Badagry Police Division, and one Sergeant John Sonayon have been arrested.
The two policemen and four other yet-to-be-identified policemen could be seen at the scene watching hoodlums beat the victims to death.
While Ashogbon and Sonayon were in the midst of the crowd, the four yet-to-be-identified policemen could be seen standing beside a white police patrol vehicle.
Ashogbon, who wore a green pullover and holding an AK47 rifle in the video, was the policeman that interviewed the victims during their torture.
It was learnt that the two policemen and some of the hoodlums had been arrested and investigations are still on-going.
