Tackling the Menace of Jungle Justice

Despite civilisation, jungle justice is still an anomaly that thrives in Nigeria largely due to lack of trust for the system. Becky   Uba   Umenyili writes on the need for government to restore faith in the judiciary by allowing the law run its course on crime 

It has become a common sight in recent times, to witness the onslaught of jungle justice in our society, in various degrees and manners as a means to redress criminal issues by some members of the public. 

Simply put, jungle justice or mob action as commonly called; is the practice of lynching, molesting and/or inflicting physical injury to suspected offenders by angry mob, most of whom are stripped naked in the public.

The act is as old as the advent of communities during the dark ages, when in the state of nature, life was short, nasty and brutish.

Ordinarily, under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), an accused person has a  Right to silence, Right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, Right to an interpreter, Right to be informed properly the nature and detail of any charge.

However, incidents over the years and especially in recent times, seem to have coloured our developmental stage lopsided, where we earnestly yearn, copy and accumulate western culture and trends but adamantly hold onto medieval-like acts like jungle justice, which had long been outlived in the western world. 

A worse dehumanising  aspect of this mob action is the act of stripping the victims stark naked with bloody injuries on his or her body and paraded naked to the glare and mockery of the general public, which includes children and young adults without regards to the indecency of such sight and the impact of the act on children.

Even the constitutional provision for death penalty by hanging or any other judiciously approved method, does NOT require such victims to be stripped naked; their human dignity is respected even at the point of death.

THISDAY sought public opinion on the reason for the  persistence of this heinous act and below are some excerpts from Mr. Mudiaga Ikpen (Esq), a lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences, Yaba College of Technology, who said, “these extra-judicial interventions, which involves stripping and beating alleged criminals, some of whom are burnt to death in full public glare; are outside of the constitutionally approved provisions for justice administration in Nigeria. 

“However, largely due to lack of trust in the justice delivery system vis-a-vis the perceived failings of the Nigerian police force, jungle justice has increased.

Administrative incompetence in our system and mistrust of dispensation of justice, cause people to become judge and jury in such situations; making Jungle justice a form of self-help!

“Though it’s seen by the public as a deterrent to potential criminals, the long-lasting impact it has on the general psyche of individuals and the nation is appalling. Recall the case of Deborah in 2022 who was cruelly molested physically in Northern Nigeria before being set ablaze by the mob for blasphemy against Islam, while her assailants videoed on. Consequently, this act dehumanises the humanity in us and tilts the country along the paths of failed state”. 

Mr. Ikpen further suggested that for the prevention of this monstrous act, “the traditional rulers and justices of peace within communities need to be increasingly highlighted as these are structures of conflict resolution within communities and that massive public sensitisation through various old and new media platforms should be used to change people’s  mind-set. 

“Also, the process of dispensation of justice needs to be revisited as well as the capability of the police as the interventionist arm of government in execution of law and order in order to restore public faith in the dispensation of justice”.

Also speaking, former Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ojodu Divisional Police station in Lagos, Mr. Akinola Arowojolu CSP (rtd) opined thus: “Jungle justice has reduced drastically compared to what happened during the military era. Presently, it’s as a results of high rate of crime especially kidnapping and also,  frustration from the system of the judiciary. Too many adjournments of court cases, frustrate witnesses from giving evidence in courts. 

“After some delays, some of the alleged criminals will be discharged and sighted in the public; some  of them continue their notorious acts in public. So people resort to jungle justice because they thought justice was not served in previous cases. By implication of resorting to jungle justice, some accused innocent persons may suffer for what they didn’t do. Government needs more sensitisation through the media to inform people of the implications of this act and those involved should be arrested and prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.

“Section 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN), 1999, provides that “every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”.

To this end, how would one access the judicial institution in the country with regards to jungle justice. Barrister (Mrs) Edna Airo Iyobhebhe lamented that “the public perception of the Judiciary  as garnered from clients, litigants and concerned citizens are: ‘a very corrupt system, where the highest bidder wins case.  Judgments are sometimes known in advance, because they have been written for the presiding officer. 

“A strong corrupt cartel is in charge of judicial dispensations to which the citizens are first class witnesses because they are directly affected by bail charges and other corrupt practices within the judiciary’.  This is the notion of people about the Nigerian judiciary, thence, some people believe that the judiciary is an ineffective institution or “toothless bulldog”, even some wrong-doers dare victims to go to court, with claim that they will not be indicted and exposed.  

“This sense of people’s perception of the court’s insensitivity to the plight of people, has led to the quest  to settle alleged criminal offences once and for all at the crime scene through jungle justice.

“They also perceive the Nigeria Police as notorious for releasing criminals and even revealing sources of information too, hence the distrust of the system. Only an overhaul of the Nigeria Police/judiciary will change public’s perception of these institutions.  

Government should appoint presiding judicial officers based on merit. Most of them are appointed based on recommendations from governors, traditional rulers, high ranking politicians. 

“Can one expect impartiality from such a crop of appointees? Post of the Attorney General is  elected in the U.S, based on their track records of convictions ditto District Attorneys. In Nigeria,  most prosecutors in the Magistrate Courts barely have secondary education and  Police training, the racketeering amongst them is shameful.   Only a few are lawyers. When honest people takes charge of administration of the Nigeria criminal justice system; citizens will perceive it and only then will  jungle justice be reduced to the barest minimum”.

Speaking from his missionary sojourn abroad, a cleric, Rev. Fr. Lambert Nlemadim said “government should allow the law of the land to become the last hope of the common man/woman because in jungle justice, people take laws into their hands due to fear of not getting justice meted out to them. 

Their fears are informed by the fact of favouritism by the elites, which negates due process of the legal system to bring erring issues to justice, objectively. 

“There should be continuous education of the masses, to understand the illegality of such act which sometimes,  have led to the molestation of  innocent persons, especially in cases where a simple alarm to scare off a suspected thief, ends in attracting mob action against such persons”.

Section 8 (1 and 3) of Administration of Criminals and Justice Act (2015) prohibits jungle justice and stipulates that any person caught or arrested participating or engaging in mob justice may face relevant criminal charges.

The Nigerian youth play lead roles in mob action, however for Miss Evelyn Akpa, a human rights activist with the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), the illegality of the act should not be undermined as she says thus “Every human being deserves a right to privacy irrespective of the crime they commit. Those who rush to strip suspected criminals naked, are equally offenders and should be reprimanded if caught. 

“All acts of jungle justice are largely attributed to lawlessness on the part of our leaders. People no longer believe in the system. The innocent ones are sanctioned while criminals move around freely. Human rights organisations like CDHR should  organise symposia and seminars to orientate citizens on the danger of jungle justice and need to allow the law to follow due process.

“Those who make laws should also keep them and not try to sweep the truth under the carpet like the lawlessness during the last elections. Government should also set up panels that would review periodically, areas and communities where jungle justice is very prevalent”.

Similarly, young Mathew Umenyili, a boy-child who saw the act lamented that its “extremely disgusting” and pleaded with the “government to intervene and correct this anomaly”.

The impact of this ‘vampirous’ act is far-reaching. Dr. Aguwa Marcellinus,  a clinical psychologist at the Federal Nuero Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos observes that “Jungle justice acts are perpetrated by illiterates and the impoverished who still look at things from the stone age perspective where people should be punished instantly for crimes allegedly committed, due to their mistrust of the judiciary which is laden with bottlenecks and huge financial involvement.

“Psychologically, this affects all ages of the human race. Social isolation of the victim (and stigmatisation on the family members) traumatises the affected person(s) adversely and lead to amnesia (lack of sleep), lack of trust, anger, rejection, heightened tension, fear,  numbness and possibly guilt and depression. Medically, elevated blood pressure and other heart problems can result from such an experience. Victims should be able to freely engage in a treatment/psychotherapy sessions especially with clinical psychologist to heal them psychologically”. 

He further suggested that functional phone lines and other means of communication should be made seamless between the citizens and the law enforcement agents, to enable people report such cases early and notes that those who report  should be well protected by the law.  

Due process of the law provides for arrest and prosecution of criminal cases; where verdicts indicts the victim, imprisonment follows as a correctional procedure, thus the reformatory role of the prison but a failed judicial system lacks this objective and so, the obvious rise in offended persons heightening mob action against their offenders. 

A re-evaluation of the various arms for the administration of justice (especially the police and the judiciary), for entrenchment of right judicial process as well as re-orientation of the masses on the dangers of jungle justice would obviously contribute to its decline .

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This sense of people’s perception of the court’s insensitivity to the plight of people, has led to the quest  to settle alleged criminal offences once and for all at the crime scene through jungle justice. They also perceive the Nigeria Police as notorious for releasing criminals and even revealing sources of information too, hence the distrust of the system