Three Arrested For Lynching Suspected Robbers In Lagos

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested three suspects
for allegedly taking part in the lynching of five suspected
armed robbers in Mushin Area of the state on Saturday.
Police Public Relations Officer ofthe command, Ngozi
Braide, said on Tuesday that the suspects were arrested as
part of the ongoing investigation intothe incident.
She said, “A full investigation has commenced into the
incident, I cannot give details about the involvement of the
arrested suspects for now.
“We have also invited the community leaders of the area
where the incident took place. The police will surely get to
the root of the matter.”
Braide, however, declined to give the names of the arrested
men.
The lynching of the armed robbery suspects came weeks
after a similar lynching of four students of the University of
Port Harcourt in controversial circumstances.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the fivesuspected robbers were
caught on Saturday evening and beaten by a mob that
consisted of residents and area boys in Mushin.
The suspected robbers were setablaze and burnt beyond
recognition.
When our correspondent visitedthe area on Tuesday, some
residents were reluctant to speak on the incident for fear
ofbeing arrested by the police.
But a trader on Vono Street, where the incident took place,
told our correspondent that some armed robbers had been
terrorising residents of the area in recent time.
The trader, who pleaded anonymity, said, “The people of this
area just took their anger on the (suspected) robbers. I don’t
really know how they were caught. I think they were said to
have broken into a shop.
“I heard somebody raised the alarm and residents quickly
reinforced and rounded up the suspects. Nobody really
knows the true story because people are afraid of talking
about the incident.”
It was learnt that while the suspects were being beaten,
residents cheered and took photographs while policemen
were not in sight to stop the lynching even though there were
some police stations in thearea.
Police were said to have arrivedthe scene after the suspects
had been burnt and the crowd had dispersed.


http://www.punchng.com/metro/three-arrested-for-lynching-
suspected-robbers-in-lagos/