The global human rights body, Amnesty International, on Saturday condemned the “horrific lynching” of a man at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Lugbe, along the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Road, Abuja, over alleged blasphemy.
The human rights body also asked the Nigerian authorities to “curtail the impunity that has led to an increase in mob violence across Nigeria.”
Sources confirmed that members of the Vigilance group guarding the popular Timber Shed market at FHA Lugbe Abuja had wanted to arrest some artisans wandering around the market on Saturday morning.
They were allegedly said to have begged the Vigilantes to free them in the name of Allah but one of the Vigilantes kicked the artisan and allegedly made comments which his assailants considered to be blasphemous.
Angry at the alleged blasphemy, the rest of the people later picked stones and planks and lynched the vigilante personnel before setting him ablaze.
According to the statement, “Amnesty International condemns the horrific lynching of a vigilante over alleged blasphemy today at Lugbe — a suburb of Abuja. Nigerian authorities must ensure those responsible for this crime are immediately arrested and prosecuted.
“The Nigerian authorities must curtail the impunity that has led to an increase in mob violence across Nigeria.
“Persons involved in such reprehensible acts should face the law in fair trials. A prompt, thorough, independent, impartial & effective investigation must be conducted.”
The extra-judicial killing in Abuja followed several others, including the unreported, which occurred in mainly the northern part of the country after the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.
Since then, government, as usual, did little or nothing to discourage people from embarking on such extra-judicial murder of fellow citizens, which is becoming rampant in Nigeria.
