Five men suspected to be armed robbers were on Saturday evening burnt to death in Onitsha, Anambra State, when they were alleged to have attempted to dispossess an operator of his tricycle on the Old Nkpor Road, close to the headquarters of People’s Club.
A source said the men tried to steal the tricycle from the owner in broad daylight when luck ran out of them.
He said, “A mob refused calling the police into the matter. They stripped the men naked and beat them up, and eventually, brought old tyres and fuel and set them ablaze.”
The Anambra State Police Command confirmed the incident through its spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, who said, “Before police operatives got to the scene at about 6pm, the suspects had already been set ablaze.
“The operatives, however, recovered five mobile phones of different brands and the tricycle suspected to have been stolen by the suspects.”
He said the command would continue to condemn such acts in totality, insisting that people should always take suspects to police stations whenever they were apprehended, as it would help the police to conduct proper investigations into the activities of the suspects and bring them to justice under extant laws.
He added that investigation had commenced on the matter and that further development would be communicated to journalists.