A suspected motorcycle snatcher has met his Waterloo in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, as a mob set him ablaze after a failed attempt to snatch a motorcycle.
The suspect was burnt by the angry mob opposite the NNPCL mini station, located closed to Tito-gate along the Ibrahim Kashim road in Makurdi, yesterday.
A witness,Andrew Terngu, said the incident happened at about 8:30 am when people were heading to work or markets.
He said two suspected bike snatchers pretending to be passengers had engaged an Okada man and directed him to drop them in town behind total fuel station, off Ibrahim Kashim road in Makurdi.
He said on getting to the area, the suspected bike thieves came down from motorcycle and was approached by another young man who approached the bike man with his hands in his pocket pretending to remove money to paid the Okada man.
It was said that instead of bringing out money, he brought out a scissors and stabbed the okada rider multiple times.
As the three accomplices mounted the bike and tried to zoom off in a hurry, luck ran out on the last passenger and he fell off the bike and was pursued by a mob after the owner of the bike raised an alarm.
While his mates drove off without him, the youths gave him hot chase to the nearby main road and descended on him and killed him at the spot.
“They used stones, plunks and iron on the thief and thereafter, put tyre on his neck, then set fire on his body. I believe others who engage in this kind of criminality would see what happened today so that next time, they will not try such thing again.
“Just imagine this morning by this kind time when people are going out to look for their daily bread, then, someone would come and murder you? It shall never been well with this armed robber. People should learn to hustle, Terngu said.
Also, a staff of the NNPCL mini station who witnessed the incident, lamented incessant cases of motorcycle snatching in the area.
“This kind of incident usually happens all the time especially during early hours of the day when Okada rider go out to isolated areas to scout for passengers or drop them around here.
“Just yesterday at about this time, a young man parked his motorcycle over there, then another person suspected to be thief, took the bike away.
“Every day, you will hear that two or three okada riders are either killed or injured by motorcycle thieves and escaped with their bike. This is too bad. Government must do something about this situation,” he said.
When contacted, Benue State Command Police Public Relations Officer DSP Udeme Edet, promised to full details of the incidence and get back to newsmen.
