The Mob in Kaduna -By Zayd Ibn Isah

Disturbing reports of mob attacks have been coming out of Kaduna State lately. First was the tragic case of the Islamic teacher, Mallama Ummulkhairi Usman Aliyu, who was brutally attacked and lynched in broad daylight by a lawless mob. According to an eyewitness account, Mallama was travelling to attend an Islamic lecture but lost her way. She saw some schoolchildren and asked them for directions, which raised suspicions among residents in the area that she was attempting to lure them away. Perhaps there had been cases of missing children in the area, making the locals more vigilant in searching for culprits.

Unfortunately, the innocent teacher fell victim to a senseless mob. Her pleas that she was one of them and not a kidnapper fell on deaf ears, and she met a tragic end. Not even law enforcement officers could protect her from her attackers.

Mallama Ummulkhairi’s case reminds me of Barrister Uduak Adams. The difference is that Ummulkhairi was not as fortunate as Barrister Uduak, who had gone in search of a house on Aborisade Street, Surulere, Lagos. A woman who was looking for her missing son accused her of kidnapping the child. She would have been killed if not for the swift intervention of the police, although she paid a heavy price, sustaining severe injuries in the attack.

Ironically, while the mob was assaulting her, the supposedly missing child suddenly reappeared. The woman who had raised the false alarm later begged for her forgiveness, saying it was the devil’s handiwork. Nothing shaytan no go see for Nigeria.

The dust had barely settled on Ummulkhairi’s tragic death when another horrifying incident occurred. Two men travelling on a motorcycle to Tudun Wada, Zaria, to visit their sick uncle were reportedly killed by a mob on suspicion of being thieves. Perhaps they were mistaken for kidnappers because they were riding a brand-new motorcycle. In many parts of the North, bandits often demand motorcycles as ransom for kidnapped victims, and that unfortunate reality may have fuelled the suspicion.

Whatever the reason, suspicion is not evidence. Tragically, the two men died before seeing the sick uncle they had set out to visit.

The danger is that each and every one of us is just one shout of “Thief!” away from being killed by an irate mob. That is the frightening reality we face today. Mob violence does not choose its next victim. Even those who defend it on the grounds that our criminal justice system is weak are not immune.

That is why I always tell those who offer this line of defence whenever an act of jungle justice occurs that, no matter how imperfect our system of justice may be, it is still far better than the rule of the jungle.

Away from Kaduna to Kano.

A lecturer at the Maryam Abacha American University was brutalised by his student’s husband and his friends. The student, whose project he was supervising, allegedly told her husband that her project supervisor was making sexual advances towards her. The husband, being a James Bond, decided to teach the lecturer the lesson of his life. He told his wife to play along, which she did.

A meeting place was agreed upon between the lecturer and his student. Unknown to the predatory lecturer, his prey was an angry husband and his friends, who were waiting at the venue to pounce on him. He was beaten beyond recognition.

Supporters of jungle justice are praising the husband for his actions, but that is stupidity on his part, and the friends or family members who followed him to carry out the dastardly act are even more stupid than he is.

Before you accuse me of being a sexual harassment apologist, let me inform you that I have spent the last five years advocating against sex-for-grades in our citadels of learning through articles, including a yet-to-be-published short story titled It Takes a Village to Rape a Child. But I will never support sexual harassment offenders being subjected to the rule of the jungle.

Yes, we might be forced to say the lecturer got his comeuppance, but that was an illegal one. Imagine if he had died in the process of being beaten or had succumbed afterwards to the injuries he sustained. The tables would have turned, and the culprit would have become the victim.

The husband and his gang of friends-turned-murderers would face the consequences of their actions. They cannot even plead provocation because the lecturer was not caught in the act. Those clapping, hailing, and thanking them for a job well done would not follow them to prison.

The stupid husband would lose everything, including his wife. Even the wife, sef, is an accomplice. These are some of the things a sane person should not do, even if he lives in an insane society. Seeking unlawful vengeance is one of them.

Before the Kano case, there was a more tragic incident in Kogi State, where a female teacher, Maryam Usman, died from injuries she sustained after being physically attacked by one of her pupil’s family members. The only crime she committed was disciplining her pupil.

Hearing the news filled me with both sadness and nostalgia. Sadness for the loss of the innocent woman, and nostalgia for how my father, who was my primary school teacher, disciplined not only me but his other pupils, and no one ever came to our home to attack him for flogging his or child.

I remember in secondary school we debated whether juvenile delinquency in our society was the fault of parents or teachers. We argued for and against the motion, and at the end of the day, we came to realise the prominent role teachers play in the lives of their students/pupils.

They are like labourers in the vineyard. They give so much but receive little from the government, and instead of appreciation from the parents of their students/pupils, they are now attacked for abiding by the ancient proverb: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”

You now understand why there is a moral decline in our society, right? Parents have become overprotective, and those whose duty it is to impart knowledge and discipline have refused to do the latter for fear of attacks from overprotective parents.

The resultant effect is future leaders who are now involved in fraud and other crimes. What we are witnessing now might be child’s play when these children come of age and take on the mantle of leadership. The signs are already there, with student union governments.

Like I told my friend the other day, the future of our country is bleak.

Talking about jungle justice, October 5, 2012, remains an infamous date in the annals of Nigerian history. On that day, four young male students of the University of Port Harcourt were accused of theft and brutally lynched in a town called Aluu. This lynching was recorded on mobile phones, and the gory videos went viral on the internet.

The young men, later proven to be innocent, came to be known as the “Aluu 4.” Their names were Chiadika Biringa, Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku, and Tekena Elkanah. The “Aluu 4” tragedy mentally scarred me and permanently fuelled my aversion to jungle justice.

Defenders of jungle justice in Nigeria often blame and criticise the weakness of our criminal justice system. They are also quick to mention instances where criminals either evade capture or bribe their way out of prison. This shows that there has been a steady decline in trust in our criminal justice system’s ability to apprehend criminals and dispense appropriate punishment.

The consequence? More than a decade since the infamous Aluu incident, jungle justice persists in our society. In fact, according to a report by SB Morgen Intelligence, at least 391 persons were killed as victims of jungle justice between January 2019 and May 2022.

It is sad that in 2025, many Nigerians still prefer violent retribution to the standard route of legal prosecution. At least, there is a fair hearing in a court of law. The mob offers no such opportunity.

They did not listen to the cries and pleas of Mallama Ummulkhairi. They did not listen to the two men on the motorcycle. In the same way, they will not listen to you defending your innocence when someone with whom you have a misunderstanding points at you and shouts, “Thief!”, “Ole!”, or “Barawo!”

To address this loss of faith in our criminal justice system, there should be a reformatory purge of corruption from our police stations, courts of law, and correctional facilities. There should also be sensitisation campaigns aimed at correcting the collective mentality of Nigerians.

These campaigns would not only be aimed at ending jungle justice but would also urge Nigerians to always let the law run its course against apprehended criminals.

As I wrote in my article of September 29, 2023, titled Uduak Adams and Mob Justice, published by Daily Trust:

“We must realise that we could become the next victims of the chaos we propagate. The truth is, no matter how slow and ineffective we perceive the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria to be, it is still better to allow the law to take its course than to descend into anarchy.”

Three years later, those words remain as relevant as ever. The tragedies in Kaduna are painful reminders that when fear replaces reason and suspicion replaces evidence, innocent people pay with their lives. If we truly desire a society governed by justice rather than vengeance, we must reject mob action in all its forms and reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law.

For once a mob becomes the judge, jury, and executioner, no one is truly safe.

Ultimately, as a society, we should understand that death is not the sole endpoint of criminal justice. Sometimes, through effective restitution and rehabilitation, criminal minds can be reintegrated into society to create a positive impact. As a people, we should always lean towards the good we can do.

I firmly believe that urgent reforms are needed to strengthen our criminal justice system and regain the trust of Nigerians. With a decline in jungle justice across the nation, our society can attain greater social stability, moral unity, and the fortification of basic human rights, especially the right to life.

Zayd Ibn Isah
lawcadet1@gmail.com