The use of
jungle justice by Nigerians to lynch those who have allegedly committed crimes
is a reflection of Nigerians’ temperament hence there is the need for
reorientation of the people.
Akwa Ibom
State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko, made this
assertion in an interview in Uyo, saying jungle justice was not lack of faith
in the nation’s criminal justice administration system but has to do with
people’s temperament.
He said the
issue should be addressed from a sociological point of view, rather than the
legal.
His words:
“The temperament of an average Nigerian is high. I think that the resort to jungle justice is
basically a reflection of our temperament because our people ordinarily
distaste certain acts that are immoral, dehumanising or that tend to undermine
the lives and values of our society.
“It is not
lack of faith in criminal justice administration system but the measure of our
temperament. It is the way we respond to things generally and it cuts across
all parts of the country.
“Once
somebody is identified as a thief, ritualist or kidnapper, people respond very
violently towards him. It is the natural way we react to things and the
temperament of average Nigerians is very high.”
He explained
that Nigerians’ resentment towards theft, kidnapping, ritualist and other vices
was natural, and debunked claims that Nigerians resort to jungle justice due to
lack of confidence in justice administration system.
“I don’t
think that is very true. It is not just that because if you catch a person and
hand him over to the police, the police will set him free. It is just because
of their temperament. It is because of the level of mismanagement of their
anger,” he added.
Speaking,
AIG, Zone Six, Calabar, Abubakar Marafa, called on the National Orientation
Agency (NOA) to help in sensitising members of the public against jungle
justice, stressing that anyone caught by the police would be charged to court.
He called on
the public to have confidence in the Nigerian Police rather than resort to
jungle justice when criminal cases occur.
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