An unidentified man suspected to be a kidnapper reportedly died Thursday after he was pelted with stones by a mob in Iyana Ipaja arera of Lagos Western Nigeria.
The suspect allegedly kidnapped a 4-year old girl at Lagger Street, Alimosho bus stop, Iyana Ipaja.
He was brutally beaten and stoned before the police at Gowon Estate Division intervened.
P.M.NEWS learnt that the police rushed him to Igando General Hospital where he reportedly died because of the injuries he sustained.
According to a resident, as the suspect was taking the victim away, he was accosted by the residents who knew the girl and asked him where he was taking her to.
The witness said when the suspect did not give a satisfactory answer, he was searched and four phone sim cards were found on him and a jackknife.
The angry mob suspected him to be a kidnapper and desended on him.
A team of policemen who raced to the scene to rescue the suspect was also attacked and injured.
A resident who watched while the mob action was going on, decried the jungle justice meted out to the suspect.
He suggested that instead of attacking a suspect, such a person should be handed over to the police.
There have been several cases of attacks on suspected kidnappers, some of whom have been lynched by mobs.
On Tuesday this week in Lagos a female suspect was set ablaze on Ekoro Road by a mob for allegedly kidnapping three school children in Abule Egba area.
It was alleged that the suspect kidnapped the children who were on their way to school.
The Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mrs Ngozi Braide, in a press release on 5 May, said policemen attached to Ipaja Division responded to a distress call at Adefemi Junction, Ipaja, Lagos and rescued an alleged kidnapper, Samsondeen Yusuf, who was about to be lynched by a mob.
The suspect was seriously injured and is now receiving treatment at Oke-Odo General Hospital.
On the same day, a team of policemen attached to Ikotun Division responded to a distress call at Ile-Iwe Bus Stop, Egbe, Lagos over a case of kidnapping.
It was reported that the policemen rescued a woman, Chinaya Nancy Okafor, who was stripped naked and was about to be lynched by a mob for allegedly attempting to kidnap a child.
Police sources said there was no investigation to determine whether the suspects actually committed the offence.
A senior police officer noted that the new trend of jungle justice will hamper the police from investigating such cases to bring those involved to justice, adding that innocent persons may be killed.