Angry Edo community burns five suspected kidnappers arrested by vigilantes

Five suspected kidnappers have been burnt to death by a mob along Afuze-Uokha Road in the Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The gunmen were said to have attacked and abducted some travellers, whom they took into a bush.

However, the kidnappers ran out of luck when they were arrested by vigilantes, who brought them out of the forest.

The locals, on sighting the suspects, took them from the vigilantes and lynched them.

A source told PUNCH Metro that the kidnappers took the travellers into the bush without knowing that the vigilantes, who got wind of the incident, had mobilised to hunt them.

“The kidnappers would have been contacting the families of the abducted travellers to ask for ransom but for the bravery of the vigilantes,” the source added.

A spokesman for the state police command, Kontongs Bello, confirmed the incident, adding that investigation was ongoing.

He said, “After the kidnap, the vigilantes went in search of the criminals and apprehended them in the bush. As they were coming out on their way to a police station, angry youths in Uokha and adjoining towns took away the suspected kidnappers from the vigilantes. All efforts to get the suspects to the police proved abortive, as they were burnt to death.”