A mob has reportedly lynched two suspected motorcycle thieves at Nyon, a suburb of Makurdi Township in Benue State.
The suspects were burnt to ashes after they attempted to rob their victim of his motorcycle in Nyon layout at about 1am on Friday.
Witnesses said the suspects were apprehended and lynched after the commercial motorcyclist raised an alarm while the two were struggling to snatch his bike from him.
The witnesses alleged that the commercial motorcyclist had told the mob who came to his rescue that he picked the two passengers (suspects) from Katsina Ala street in High Level area of Makurdi town and that they told him (cyclist) to ride them to Nyon, a sub urban area of Makurdi.
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But on getting to Nyon, they (suspects) directed him into a street, which he followed and that since it was too late into the night, when he got to a point, he told his passengers to pay him so he could get back.
“The suspects however insisted they don’t have money on them and that they will get the money from the house on getting home. While he made to go, they grabbed him and requested that he give them his motorcycle key. As he refused to hand them the keys, they started struggling with him and luck ran out on them when he raised an alarm,” one of the witnesses narrated.
The witness further noted that the alarm raised by the cyclist drew the attention of a mob – mostly youths who came out in their numbers and gave the suspected bike robbers a good chase and caught them before they could escape.
“It was the youths who beat the suspects to a pulp before setting them ablaze because the incidences of motorcycle snatching had become a recurrent event especially in Makurdi metropolis,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) Benue Command, SP Catherine Anene, confirmed to journalists that she received a report on the incident, adding that some officers had been detailed to the community to find out what actually happened.
Anene however urged the public to desist from taking laws into their hands.
