Booking the Mobsters

Extra-judicial killings have continued to make headlines in Nigeria. Incidents of extra-judicial killings have occurred through mob action rooted in identity and criminality. According to Nextier Violent Conflict Database, there have been 55 incidents of extra-judicial killings in Nigeria between June 2020 and June 26th 2023, leading to 86 deaths. Some of these have been religiously motivated.

A major incident that ignited some religious tension was the lynching of Miss Deborah Samuel in Sokoto state in May 2022. This gruesome murder by an angry mob occurred over alleged blasphemy. The incident revolved around the reliance on religion as justification by the perpetrators in the videos shared online. The most recent incident occurred barely a year after the killing of the late Miss Deborah Samuel. A butcher, Usman Buda, was killed by his fellow butchers over alleged blasphemous statements at an abattoir in Sokoto. Mob violence has also occurred in other parts of the country, like Lagos. On May 12th 2022, a sound engineer was killed by a mob of motorcyclists in Lagos state. In the early 2000s, state-backed vigilantes in the southeast, known as the Bakassi Boys, embarked on a public lynching rampage of suspects after governors in the region gave them broad licence to help combat crime.   

These extra-judicial killings have attracted condemnations from civil society organisations (CSOs), political officeholders and faith-based organisations. However, it can be said that some view acts of mob justice as being above due process. As in the most recent incident in Sokoto, the Governor of the state, Ahmed Aliyu, stated that his administration would deal decisively with anyone who commits ‘blasphemy’ against the Islamic Prophet Muhammad bin Abdullah. With such statements, there is a leaning towards encouraging extra-judicial killings. The spokesperson for the police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that “blasphemy, though an offence recognised by Nigerian law, is not subject to the whims of members of the public for enforcement”. However, this questions whether open condemnation is sufficient to quell such incidents. The carelessness with which such situations are handled has also been demonstrated by prior extra-judicial killing incidents. For instance, the Nigerian police charged the late Miss Samuel’s killers over “public disturbance” and failed to appear in court as witnesses, according to The Gazette, an online news source. In light of the failure to bring mobsters to book, Amnesty International has stated that “the Nigerian authorities continue to create a permissive environment for brutality”.

The reality of extra-judicial killing in Nigeria involves both constituted and unconstituted authority. The frequent perpetrators include security forces, hoodlums, and civilians armed with clubs, petrol, and stones. Furthermore, crowd mentality and ineffective securitisation also aid mob violence. Group identities are sometimes weaponised in pursuit of value, protection and revenge, which can lead to mob violence. Other contributing factors are illiteracy, disregard for human rights, misinformation and disinformation, failed humanity and a weak court system. In Nigeria, jungle justice and the criminal justice system are intertwined. A 2014 survey conducted by NOI-POLL, a country-specific polling service in West Africa, revealed that 51 per cent of Nigerians attribute the high prevalence of jungle justice to a lack of trust in law enforcement agencies. The culture of mob action is encouraged by the criminal justice system’s inadequacy in administering justice in a transparent and timely manner. 

The Nigerian government has to revamp the criminal justice system to address the frequency of jungle justice. The efficacy of criminal justice in a country contributes to the state’s stability. It also fosters public trust in the state’s capacity to uphold the social compact of safeguarding individuals from harm. Policy improvements should be aimed at law enforcement agencies to increase their capability for providing security and combating crime. Correctional facilities and the courts should also be targeted for change.

Religious leaders must take up the mantle of reorienting the faithful against religious extremism. There is also an urgent necessity for reorientation of the public, which would educate and enlighten them about due process and the rule of law. Furthermore, there is a need for the presence of non-state actors like human rights groups and CSOs who can ensure matters of human rights violations, such as extra-judicial killings, are handled promptly and decisively. Strict punishment of perpetrators of extra-judicial killings by appropriate authorities would serve as a deterrent against such acts.