Police Rescue Hired Assailant from Jungle Justice

Chiemelie Ezeobi

But for the timely intervention of the police, an angry mob at the Jakande area of Lagos would have carried out jungle justice on a hired assailant who was sent to kill a boutique owner.

The assailant, whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, had confessed that he was hired by a friend of the victim to kill her off at all costs.

Although he did not reveal the reason why the victim was marked for death, he did say he travelled from Sapele in Delta State to Lagos to carry out the nefarious act.
According to an eyewitness account, the suspect had gained entry into the victim’s shop under the pretence of being a shopper.

Cooking up a false tale of wanting to surprise his girlfriend by shopping for her, he got the boutique owner to show him around the shop.

When they got to the cloth stacks at the back, he however quickly brought out a rope and tried to strangle her with it and the same time, prevent her from screaming.
Although he had cut off her windpipe with the ropes, the woman gained a little ground while struggling and screamed loudly.

It was her scream that attracted some passersby and her neighbours, who stormed the boutique and caught the assailant in the process of strangling her.
The victim was immediately rescued and the suspect arrested by the rescuers, who took him outside for questioning.
Meanwhile, the victim was rushed to the hospital to treat her injuries, given that the ropes had given her a severe cut on the neck.

After his confession, the suspect was stripped naked and severely beaten by the angry mob, who then proceeded to arrange tyres to set him ablaze.
He was however, rescued by the police who tried to disperse the teeming crowd before they whisked him away to the station.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, promised to find out more details about the incident.