There has been numerous reports of theft in the capital city of Cross River State since the beginning of 2016. Criminals have been attacking and dispossessing residents of Calabar and environments.
The recurring robbery activity has forced residents to organise vigilante groups to secure their streets and neighbourhood.
And as expected, when security is in the hands of people who are not trained in security issues, extra-judicial killings and jungle justice becomes the order of the day, and that is what is happening in Calabar currently.
Over twenty criminals have been apprehended and lynched by various vigilante groups in the past few months. The year 2016 opened with the lynching of two female robbery suspects and their male accomplice.Just this morning,22nd of April 2016,another person who attempted to snatch N1.5 million from a woman was caught and dealt with.
The suspect said to be undergraduates was battered and stripped naked at Murtala Mohammed Highway/ Atekong Drive and before the police arrived, the young man who was inflicted with a deep machete cut on his forehead had died and was set ablaze and was thrown on the road side.
A resident of Uwanse, Mr. Akpan
Udo-Ekpo told Crime Guard that they decided to confront the criminals
since the number of hoodlums has increased tremendously in the city.
“These boys have become too many and the police cannot be everywhere, so
we have to combat them ourselves if we must live in peace in this
city,”he said.
Mr. Udo-Ekpo said before now, they
used to apprehend criminals and hand them over to the police but such
hoodlums later find their way out and return to terrorize people.
Another resident, Moses Etim said they decided to form vigilante
groups to tackle the high crime rate in the area to protect themselves.
“We formed vigilante to protect ourselves from these criminals and we will continue to do so until we have peace.”
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