Ulog #02 "Jungle Justice Experience"

Hello uloggers/steemians! This is my 2nd ulog post. I’ve had a lot of experiences worth sharing since my last ulog post, but due to the hectic nature of work I’ve been unable to do so. Meanwhile, I want to use this opportunity to express my gratitude towards @teardrops for featuring my last ulog post and @surpassinggoogle the oga behind the ulog tag where steemians can share their daily experiences and whom I just recently learnt that he's a Nigerian.

In Nigeria, it is like a norm for a population of people to take law into their hands and execute punishment on alleged criminals’ a.k.a jungle justice. I have always read/heard about how criminals were burnt to death, beaten to death and tortured by individuals around the crime scene. But, I have never experienced such a gory scene until recently.

Source

I took excuse from my boss on Friday to visit my parents because I got a call from home that my mum was sick and she’s been in the hospital since Tuesday. My excuse was granted and I left for my parents place and arrived later in the evening.

So, on Saturday noon, I decided to go and repair my phone that has a little glitch at a mobile phone shopping plaza. I geared up and took my dad’s car with me. I got to the plaza, parked the car by the corner and stepped out of the car feeling fly with my well-polished black shoes that reflects the rays of the sun. It was well-polished to the extent one can see their image reflection clearly on the shoe (lol).

Majestically, I marched towards the entrance of the plaza; immediately I got to the entrance I heard people shouting “thief! Thief! Thief! Catch am! Catch am!” just like the speed of light a wounded guy passed me and he was being chased by a group of people. Before I could turn to see what was happening, another guy tackled the wounded guy to the ground and the mob descended on him from every angle. Some used their hands, while some were looking for weapons to beat him to death. The criminal got up with all the wounds inflicted on him and he was able to run again for some distance before the mob pinned him down again.

I tried to intervene and I heard a voice “Oga you no go like mind your business or you follow am come?” quietly, I ignored what was happening and was about to head to the repair shop before I saw that the so-called criminal was resting his battered body on my dad’s car. The mob continued with their beating even though the guy couldn’t even make a move, he was still alive but on the verge of death. Many people on the scene were jubilating and encouraging them, while some brought out their phones and were busy recording videos and taking snapshots of the gory scene. Some were busy looking for fuel and tyres to burn the criminal. I rushed over to the scene and begged the mob to stop the beating before they end up causing damage to the car. But, my plea fell on deaf ears and some threatened to beat me up.

Thankfully, some seconds later security operatives arrived and stopped the fracas. They took the victim and rushed him to the hospital. Luckily, the criminal didn't die on the way to the hospital. The victims’ blood was splattered on my dad’s car during the mass beating.

the victims blood splattered on the car

I decided to enquire about why the guy was about to be butchered by the angry mob. I was told that he stole a phone from someone’s shop. There was a CCTV camera in the shop but the criminal didn’t know and when he was confronted, he tried to make a run for it, that’s when the beating began.
Well, after I heard the story I just carried my dusty self and left without repairing my phone anymore before I get into another bad encounter with my dad’s car.

Jungle justice is rampant in Nigeria especially the markets. The funny part is that the security operatives don’t even take the perpetrators of the act into custody. Some claim that the victims are criminals that they deserve it and in most cases the victims are burnt to death or beaten to death.

God save us all!

Thank you for reading