Legal practitioners have condemned jungle justice in Nigeria, saying there is no justification for citizens taking the law into their own hands.
Jungle justice is an extrajudicial form of punishment where a mob or vigilance group beats, tortures, or kills a person suspected of a crime without legal trial.
In interviews with reporters on Tuesday in Abuja, the practitioners called for unity and strict enforcement of existing laws to end the menace.
They urged citizens to be guided by laws in fighting crime, saying there are enough laws to ensure the conclusive investigation, apprehension and prosecution of suspects in the country.
Mr Cornelius Lamle, Managing Partner, SC Legal Partners, said killing a suspect extrajudicially is murder and every participant, not just the person who struck the fatal blow, is liable as a principal offender under the doctrine of common intention.
“Jungle justice has no place under Nigerian law. Every person, however, strongly suspected of a crime, retains the constitutional right to life under section 33 of the 1999 constitution and the right to fair hearing under section 36.
“Nobody has the power to try and execute a person on the spot,” he said.
Lamle called for consistent prosecution of perpetrators and togetherness among Nigerians to help fight and eradicate the menace.
He urged the government and the police force to rebuild public trust in order to eradicate self-help justice, and called for sustained public enlightenment on the rights of suspects.
Lamle also urged states to make deliberate efforts to enact laws that specifically criminalise mob action with mandatory minimum sentences and clear duties on police to intervene and arrest.
“The problem isn’t a lack of law; it’s poor enforcement. The Criminal Code, Penal Code, and Administration of Criminal Justice Act already criminalise these acts.
“I encourage state-level anti-jungle justice laws with mandatory minimum sentences and clear duties on police to intervene and arrest.
“Police accountability and rapid-response protocols are also needed so that when a mob gathers, there’s a functioning emergency line and swift deployment and not a two-hour wait that seals a suspect’s fate,” he said.
Lamle stressed that jungle justice not only violates human rights and dignity, but it also violates Nigerian law.
He, therefore, recommended a dedicated federal Anti-Jungle Justice Act with mandatory sentencing, a witness protection framework, since many cases collapse because bystanders won’t testify, and fast-tracked trials for mob-killing cases so justice is seen to be done.
“Nothing emboldens a mob more than watching previous killers walk freely,” he said.
He called for strict enforcement, rebuilding trust in formal justice and legal literacy campaigns in the country.
“Every jungle justice case that reaches the police should be pursued to prosecution and conviction. Impunity is the biggest driver of recurrence.
“People resort to mob action largely because they don’t trust the police or courts to act faster, visibly functioning police response is the real deterrent,” he said.
He called for sustained public education in local languages, on the illegality and consequences of jungle justice, which he said can change behaviour at the grassroots.
Echoing the same views, another lawyer, Mr Moses Obeta, said there was no place for jungle justice in Nigerian laws, adding that the constitution does not recognise or endorse the arbitrary punishment of suspected criminals.
“No matter how grave the alleged offence is, the only permissible avenue is through the judicial process where the suspect is found guilty.
“So jungle justice, as the name implies, is a violation of the right to life and the dignity of the victims,” Obeta said.
He called on the police and other security agencies to live up to their responsibility and ensure that proper investigation and prosecution of offenders are thoroughly carried out.
“The responsibility of proper investigation and prosecution of offenders should be done without taking bribes and releasing criminals without prosecution and proper investigation.
“The measure I would recommend is that the laws should be applied without fear or favour.
“Equally, offenders, I mean those who commit or carry out jungle justice, should be investigated, arrested, prosecuted and appropriate penalties meted out because jungle justice is a criminal offence that violates our laws,” he said.
For his part, Mr Simon Abel, a legal luminary, called on the government to enlighten the public as well as provide security agencies with the right mechanism to curb jungle justice.
Abel also said punishment should be meted out to perpetrators of jungle justice to serve as a deterrent and example for others.
“It is the responsibility of the government to enlighten the public. Mechanisms should be put in place that can make it possible to report instant issues.
“Average Nigerians learn from experience. When one or two are prosecuted for their actions, it serves as a deterrent.
“But when we keep suppressing the issue and the people involved are not punished or penalised for the act they perpetrated, then we can’t eradicate jungle justice,” he said.
The experts note the varying reports across the country highlighting the damage, toll and effects of jungle justice, from snuffing out the lives of victims, to leaving loved ones and households in dire pain and loss.