Mob killed, lynches motorcycle snatcher in Bauchi

Some irate youths have beaten to death a suspected motorcycle thief in Magama-Gumau town, Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

The deceased, a young man whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, was noticed in the afternoon of 17th March, loitering around a mosque in the town being the market day.

Sources revealed that he was said to have forcefully broken the lock of a motorcycle parked and started moving it away from the point around the mosque.

Unfortunately for him, the owner of the motorcycle was said to have sighted him from inside the mosque, ran out and chased after him shouting “barawo, barawo” (thief, thief), Daily Trust reports.

On hearing of shouting, people chased and caught up with him though he had abandoned the stolen motorcycle and tried to escape from the scene.

Another source who didn’t want his name in print said because it was market day, a mob quickly gathered wielding planks and other harmful objects with which they kept hitting him until he died.

Before police operatives arrived at the scene, the mob had disappeared.

The police later evacuated the body and deposited it at the morgue of Toro General Hospital. No arrest had been made as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed the incident through its Public Relations Officer, SP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, saying that operatives attached to Toro Divisional Police Headquarters received a distress call from Magama Gumau Police outstation that a suspected motorcycle thief whose name and address were yet to be known was caught at Magama Weekly Market trying to steal a motorcycle. The suspect was surrounded and beaten to death by a mob.

However, on arrival at the scene, operatives discovered that the suspect was set ablaze by the mob. The body of the suspect was rushed to Toro General Hospital but certified dead.

The Commissioner of Police CP Auwal Musa Mohammed, has ordered an investigation into the matter and the possible arrest of the culprits.