Two suspected armed robbers were lynched by a mob in the Baruwa area of Ijeshatedo, Surulere, Lagos, in the early hours of Wednesday after allegedly attempting to escape from residents who had apprehended them.
Gatekeepers News reports that eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 5:15 a.m. during what was described as a failed robbery attempt.
Residents told The Guardian that the mob initially tied up the suspects with the intention of handing them over to the police but turned violent after the men reportedly tried to flee.
“We only tied them up, but when they tried to run again, people became angry and attacked them,” one witness said.
The gruesome killings occurred near a primary school in the community, drawing outrage from residents who condemned the rise in mob violence and the failure of security agencies to respond swiftly.
“It was a horrible sight,” said a resident, Miss Oluwabunmi. “If the police were doing their job properly, people wouldn’t take laws into their own hands. No one should be butchered like that in front of schoolchildren.”
The incident adds to the growing list of jungle justice cases reported in Lagos in recent months amid public frustration over rising crime and perceived police inefficiency.
In June, a suspected motorcycle thief was set ablaze by a mob in the Alakuko area, while a similar lynching occurred in July around the Ogunlana Drive axis of Surulere — just a few metres from Baruwa.
Human rights groups, including the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), have repeatedly condemned such acts, urging authorities to strengthen policing and ensure that suspects are tried in court rather than executed by mobs.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Cele Police Division were unsuccessful as calls to the station went unanswered. However, police sources confirmed that the victims’ remains had been deposited at the Isolo General Hospital mortuary, and an investigation was underway.
Despite repeated warnings from authorities, mob justice remains a recurring problem in Nigeria, with dozens of people killed annually in similar circumstances, according to Amnesty International.
