The gruesome murder of 16 hunters, who were on transit from Rivers to Kano state for the celebration of Eid el-Fitr, at Uromi, Edo state, has once again brought to fore the recurring jungle justice in the land. The hunters were spotted, stopped and lynched by vigilantes and other mobs on the pretext that they were kidnappers terrorising their community.
The victims were tied up, beaten to plum and set ablaze by the mob. The mob’s action resulted to the death of the innocent hunters of northern extraction has continued to attract condemnation from Nigerians. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo state condemned the Uromi barbaric killing in strong terms and promised to bring the culprits to justice.
This is a welcome development. Governor Okpebholo, last week,visited his Kano state counterpart, Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf, to condole with the government and bereaved families of the deceased. During the visit,t he governor assured that, justice will take its rightful course. Interestingly, in a bid to avert further mob actions in the state, Okpebholo banned unregistered vigilante groups.This move will go a long way towards regulating their activities and put to an end to abuse.
Before the jungle justice which led to the death of the 16 hunters, many cases of extra judicial killings have been reported in the country with the culprits getting away with them. This is a sad reminder that, mob actions neither attract remorse from the perpetrators nor punishment from the relevant authorities.
Little wonder, the ugly phenomenon has persisted unabated. At the slight provocation, innocent lives are being snuffed out and the culprits continue with their normal lives as if nothing has happened. In a saner society, the perpetrators of jungle justice are quickly apprehended and brought to book to serve as deterrent to others. However,i n Nigeria, the incidence of jungle justice has been festered due to many factors including, unemployment, illiteracy and stereotype. Additionally, the inability of government to prosecute those engaged in mobs action has emboldened the menace and making it a recurring event.
While the Uromi barbaric killing has attracted condemnation and promises by government to prosecute the culprits, ithas become imperative for our northern hunters to know that hunting is an old profession that is no longer profitable and rewarding. It is advisable that they either change business or confine the practice of their profession within the North.
Much as Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution confers Nigerians the inalienable right to move to any part of the country, the wave of insecurity and rampant cases of kidnapping remain stumble blocks not only for hunting, which is viewed with deep suspicion, but also other legitimate businesses. Some southern states, like their northern counterparts, are battling with insecurity.
Besides farmers/herders conflicts, kidnapping for ransom has reared its ugly head in the country. This, however, is no licence for mob actions or killing of innocent people. One had expected the Uromi vigilantes group to hand over the suspected hunters to the police for further investigation. Sadly, the vigilante group took the law into their hands and wasted 16 precious lives.
The killing of the 16 hunters has further interrogated the impacts of policies being implemented by the northern state governors. The governors’ policies have failed to address the myriad of poverty in the region. Poverty has pushed millions of northern youths to the southern part of the country for menial jobs such as: gatemen, nail cutters, wheelbarrow pushers, hunting and water vendor.
If the right economic policies and conducive environment were created by our northern governors, the probability of thousands of northern youths migrating to the South for menial jobs will be minimal. The northern governors forum should go beyond mere condemnation of jungle justice against the 16 killed northern hunters and formulated pragmatic policies aimed at addressing unemployment and high poverty in the region.