Angry Youths Burn Five Suspected Kidnappers To Death In Edo

Five alleged kidnappers were set ablaze by enraged teenagers along the Afuze-Uokha route in Edo State’s Owan West Local Government Area.

The perpetrators were claimed to have ambushed and abducted some travelers along the road and taken them into a nearby woodland, according to reports.

However, the kidnappers’ luck ran out when they were apprehended by vigilantes who brought them out of the woods.

According to NAN, when the teenagers saw the suspects, they grabbed them from the vigilantes and burned them alive.

The accused kidnappers were claimed to have led the travelers into the jungle, unaware that vigilantes were on their tail after learning of the event.

“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.

Confirming the incident, Spokesman of the Edo Police Command, Bello Kontongs, said an investigation is ongoing.

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

“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.”