A mob in Abuja on Saturday
stoned and set one 30-year-old Ahmad Usman, a member of a vigilante group, for
allegedly making statements deemed to be blasphemous.
Trouble started when members
of the vigilante group guarding the Tippa Garage at the Federal Housing Estate
Lugbe, a satellite town in Abuja, tried to arrest some residents wandering
around the market in the early hours of Saturday.
The residents were said to
have begged the vigilance group to free them in the name of Allah but one of
the vigilantes kicked and made comments said to be blasphemous.
A trader in the market who
spoke to the press in confidence said the vigilante man was beaten and stoned
before he was set ablaze at the prompting of one Muslim cleric.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) Police Command of Nigeria Police has confirmed the incident and
claims that it has brought the situation under control.
In a statement issued to
newsmen in Abuja via the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Josephine
Adeh, FCT Police Commissioner Babaji Sunday was quoted as saying: “Today 4th of
June 2022 at about 13:00hrs, one Ahmad Usman a 30 years old member of the local
vigilante around Tippa garage at Federal Housing Estate in Lugbe Area of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) got into an argument with a cleric (Malam)
whose name is yet unknown from the same area.
“The heated argument
degenerated into an outbreak of violence that led to the murder and setting
ablaze of Ahmad Usman by the enraged mob mobilized by the clergy numbering
about Two hundred (200).
“Upon the receipt of this
information, a quick intervention team comprising of The Surveillance and Ambush
team of the Command attached to the Lugbe Divisional Police Headquarters was
drafted to the scene where the enflamed victim was rescued suffering severe
degrees of burn and taken immediately to the hospital where he was confirmed
dead by a doctor on call.
“Normalcy has since been
restored to the situation, while monitoring and surveillance of the area
continues. Residents are therefore urged to go about their lawful duties
without fear or apprehension of any kind from any quarters as the discrete investigation
continues to unravel facts surrounding the ugly incident and to effect the
arrest of the perpetrators therein,” he stated.
According to the statement,
the FCT Commissioner of Police warned against the indiscriminate act of
self-help in obtaining justice known as jungle justice and stated that adequate
sanctions will be meted out on subscribers of the crude and dastardly act.
