Jungle Justice

Kabooooooooooom!
(Dont laugh, that was the sound I heard jare lol)

I ran out, onto my balcony. What the heck was going on?? The electricity in my house went off. Sparks began to fly.

People had gathered. The scene was rife with absolute drama. A range rover had run smack into an electricity pole. The pole had fallen and landed on the range rover.
Well meaning citizens helped the driver out of the car.

"Kpokom!"

A bottle had been cracked on his head.

"Oloshi ni bobo yi sha!" yelled a sweaty passerby

The glass shattered all over the driver. The red of his blood was a contrast with his dark skin that glistened with sweat.

Ehn! Kilonshele...

A little mob had gathered around him and had began pummelling him.
The man lay there, limp in a pool of his own blood. He didnt try to defend himself.

In their little uniforms, tears filled their eyes. They were confused.

"I bin say make I take dem go school! Na school we dey go I take God beg una! Na me be dem papa!" the driver lamented.
It was saturday.

"my pikin! my pikin! joyce... my pikin" she shrieked. She ran forward and held one of the frightened children in her arms.

The crowd thickened. The driver's hands were tied to his feet now.

Did people just walk around with ropes in their backpockets?

"gbosa!" A tree branch landed on the drivers back. He screamed in pain. The branch broke in two.

"Can't this man speak up for himself?" I wondered aloud

There were six of them, all wailing now. Holding hands.

"Na my oga, na my oga oh! Him send me. Him say make I bring any pikin wey I see for road! Him need the small small ones oh!!!"

At this point I didn't think the crowd could have become any more livid than they already were, but they did. The crowd was wild.

Soon enough someone got a carjack and took off the tires of the range rover. The purpose was not vandalism.
The cigarette lighter surfaced next and PMS found its way right to the heart of the matter.

"This man is suya today..."

There had been a car chase. Realising he had been spotted, the driver sped off. But he didnt know his way around the neighbourhood. He ran into the electricity pole.

Six children had been missing for two days. The driver had kept them in the range rover over night. He was transporting them to his boss in the next town when he was spotted at a filling station with a truck load of crying children.

What if no one saw him as suspicious? What if no one went after him? Where was the police in this particular case?

Nigerians have had to resort to being their own police. Infact we have employed traditional institutions such as guards from the Oduaa peoples congress, amongst others, to safeguard our lives and personal property.

"Pour the fuel jare! Ritualist!" screamed a voice from somewhere deep within the angry mob.

Anyone who came to the scene with hopes of pleading for mercy on behalf of the driver, would be seen as an accomplice. No one dared to do such a thing. He or she would have their neck ardorned with a beautiful tyre.

Jungle justice.

The cases of kidnappings are on the rise. The militants who popularised kidnappings must be watching in disgust as their cause has been mocked and reduced to a mere business venture.

The kidnappings seem to be no respecter of social status. The same can not be said about the alacrity with which the police find the victim and bring the criminals to book.

So why are we so shocked about the lynching cases that grace the front pages of the newspapers?
As an ordinary citizen, If I lose my property, I'm not guaranteed that the perpertrators would be found and punished. Of course that situation is not entirely peculiar to our country. But one has to admit that security in the country is a woeful apology.

So If I happen to apprehend the persons responsible for the loss of lives or my property loss or my kidnap, why shouldn't I met out the punishment I believe is suitable for the crime committed?

I will strangle him, cut him, gouge his eyes out! Parade him for the world to see. But, what would that turn me into? A criminal as well...?
Omo gbagbe oshi jare! (forgerrit)

Why shouldn't I, especially as the police has a reputation for setting a criminal free when his sponsor shows up with sufficient cash to grease the right palms?

Wait. Wait oh.

What if the driver was innocent.
What if by some crazy means, the torture metted out to him coerced him into confessing to a crime he didn't commit?

Would we go and wake his burnt ashes, apologise and tell him it was all a joke? A mistake?

Would we breathe life back into his stiffened bones and his skin would somehow fall back into place?

Would we 'un-cry' the tears he shed as he burnt to death...?

Would we 'un-feel' all the pain that rushed through his whole being as he was set ablaze?

I heard some one called the police that day. The police did not come to the scene.
They said their wagon had no fuel.


'DWN