Lynching of OAU student
The rising cases of lynching of students on our university campuses over alleged infractions must be condemned by all people of goodwill and decency. We must all stand up against it!
On October 4, 2012, four students of the University of Port Harcourt – Lloyd Toku, Ugonna Obuzor, Chiadika Biringa and Tekena Elkana – were gruesomely lynched and set ablaze after being paraded naked around Aluu town. Their “crime”? They were accused of stealing a laptop.
Just last year, (May 12, 2022) Miss Deborah Yakubu, a second-year student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was lynched by a Muslim mob for alleged "blasphemy" against the founder of Islam, Prophet Mohammed. Her body was also set on fier.
The recent beating to death of a final year student of Civil Engineering student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile Ife, Okoli Chizoputam, over alleged phone theft, was a continuation of this barbaric practice on our university campuses. Though the school’s authorities and the Students’ Union condemned the act following a national outrage, the OAU is said to have a longstanding culture of “zero tolerance” to stealing on its campus. Culprits are mercilessly beaten while being paraded around the halls of residence. Chizoputam, unfortunately, died from his injuries.
The sad thing about these killings and jungle justice, in general, is that the victims are never given the chance to hear their side of the story. There is no guarantee that the allegations heaped on them before summary execution is true or correct. Many people have been known to have been lynched based on mistaken identity or malicious frame-ups.
This is why the law abhors jungle justice. An alleged lawbreaker must be given his or her day in court. The judiciary, which is empowered by the Constitution to adjudicate civil and criminal cases, must be allowed to do justice to whom it is due.
We condemn jungle justice in all its ramifications because it shows just how backwards we are as a people and country. Human life is sacrosanct. Nobody can create a life, and no one is good enough to judge others, let alone take life, except as prescribed by law.
Our universities must revive the refined and elevated culture that gave educated people, especially graduates, a special place in society. The killers of Chizoputam must be identified and subjected to the full weight of the law to deter others in future.
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