The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has condemned an incident of jungle justice in which a young woman was assaulted by a mob for allegedly attempting to abduct a two-year-old child in the Giri-Kpasere community, Gwagwalada Area Council.
The unidentified woman was reportedly b£aten and partially str!pped by the crowd after she was accused of trying to steal the child.
A resident of the area, Danlami Habila, told Daily Trust on Thursday that the incident occurred around 5:12 p.m. on Saturday, October 11.
According to him, the suspect, dressed in a shirt and jeans, was spotted by the roadside holding a crying child while waiting for a vehicle. Some passersby who recognized the child became suspicious and approached her.
“One of the men called the child’s name, and the child responded immediately. The lady quickly tried to strap the child on her back and cover him with a wrapper, which made the man question how she came to have the child,” Habila recounted.
He said that when the man raised an alarm, nearby youths gathered at the scene and began assaulting the woman, nearly stripping her completely n@ked.
“In fact, some people had earlier noticed her walking with the child and making frantic phone calls by the roadside, trying to stop a vehicle, but she couldn’t get one before she was caught,” he added.
Habila explained that some residents identified the child and quickly alerted his mother, who later arrived to reclaim her child.
He said the mob continued to attack the woman until some community elders intervened and rescued her. The suspect was subsequently handed over to the police.
Reacting to the incident, the FCT Police Command spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, confirmed that officers from the Tungan Maje Division rescued the woman from the mob to prevent her from being lynched.
Adeh said the command has launched a discreet investigation into the alleged abduction attempt and assured that justice would be served in accordance with the law.
She also warned residents against taking the law into their own hands, stressing that mob attacks are criminal acts that undermine the rule of law and ongoing efforts to maintain peace and order in the FCT.
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