Vigilantes execute suspected criminals

A crime-busting vigilante group in eastern Nigeria publicly executed four suspected criminals over the weekend, hacking them with machetes then setting the bodies alight, a Lagos newspaper reported.

‘Thisday’ reported on Tuesday that the executions took place on the main road between the towns of Oweri and Port Harcourt. It said the four men, who included “a notorious” armed robber, were held for a month by their executioners, the Imo State Vigilante Group, before being killed.

The newspaper reported that the executions drew no public outcry.
Armed robbery has been a feature of Nigerian life and vigilantes have sprung up in face of the seeming impotence of the police to curb it.

The Imo State Vigilante Group, more commonly known as the Bakassi Boys, was inaugurated this year by the Imo House of Assembly, the state’s parliament. It is supposed to be supervised by the police, Security Service, state government, state legislators and traders, the newspaper reported.