Five suspected kidnappers set ablaze by mob in Edo

Five suspected kidnappers were, on Sunday, set ablaze by angry youths along the Afuze-Uokha road in Owan west LGA of Edo state.

The suspects were said to have attacked and abducted some travellers along the road and taken them inside a nearby forest.

However, luck reportedly ran out of the kidnappers, as they were arrested by vigilantes who brought them out of the forest.

According to NAN, the youths, on sighting the suspects, seized them from the vigilantes and burnt them to death.

The suspected kidnappers were said to have taken the travellers into the bush, without knowing that the vigilantes, who had gotten wind of the incident, were on their trail.

“The kidnappers would have been contacting the families of the abducted travellers to ask for ransom if not for the bravery of the vigilantes, while residents, who were fed up with the criminal activities of these kidnappers, set them on fire and left them to get burnt to death,” a source said.

Bello Kontongs, spokesman of the Edo police command, who confirmed the incident, said investigation is ongoing.

“After the kidnap, the vigilantes went in search of the criminals who they apprehended in the bush,” Kontongs said.

“As they were coming out in Uokha community, on their way to the police station, angry youths in Uokha and adjoining towns took away the suspected kidnappers from the vigilantes.

“All efforts to get the suspects to the police proved abortive as they were burnt to death.”