Police arrest two over lynching of phone thief in Anambra, warn residents

The Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Aderemi Adeoye, has cautioned residents against taking laws into their hands in the event of crime.

Adeoye said the command would no longer condone situations where people engage in jungle justice by lynching suspects to death without trial.

DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in a statement, quoted the CP on Friday as saying that perpetrators would be charged with murder.

He described any mob lynching of crime suspects as bestial and worse than their victims.

The PPRO said two suspects had been arrested for involvement in a recent mob lynching that resulted in the death of suspected criminals.

“Someone steals a phone, and a mob kills him. The sentence for stealing a phone is three years imprisonment.

“Those who lynch commit murder, which carries the death penalty because the Courts have not delegated anyone outside the judiciary to try, convict and execute suspects,” he said.