Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu Reporting
A horrifying case of mob justice unfolded in Uromi, Edo State, where 16 Northern travelers, mistaken for bandits, were lynched and set ablaze by an irate crowd.
The gruesome incident occurred when a local vigilante group stopped a vehicle transporting the travelers from Port Harcourt to Kano for the upcoming Sallah celebration.
Eyewitnesses report that upon discovering machetes and locally made firearms (dane guns) in their possession, alarm spread through the community, fueling suspicions that the travelers were kidnappers. A frenzy ensued as enraged youths swarmed the scene, refusing to heed the pleas of the Hausa men, who tried in vain to explain their innocence.
“They were begging, saying they were only traveling for Sallah, but nobody listened,” a distraught onlooker recounted. “One of them was even pushed in a wheelbarrow straight into the flames.”
By the time security operatives arrived at the chaotic scene, 12 of the men had already been killed and set ablaze. Only four survivors were found clinging to life, severely wounded.