By Victor Kolawole and Deborah Ogundijo
In the early hours of Tuesday, 31st May, 2022, lots of Brownites were awoken by a hullabaloo which erupted at the ABH Quadrangle. A suspected thief had just been caught and enraged Brownites were ready to engage in a mob action.
The suspect was caught loitering suspiciously within the Hall and interrogated but could not give satisfactory answers. Also, he was allegedly found with stolen items and later confessed to have been involved in some of the several cases of theft Brownites had recently suffered.
The Defence Minister organised a beating exercise involving selected Brownites coming out one after the other to dispense “justice”. Since then Brownites have not ceased to air their views on various platforms regarding this issue, as to whether such act should be considered as Jungle Justice or not and condemned or justified.
ABH Press met with some Brownites to get their opinions on this issue. Read them below and enjoy!
1. The dictionary definition of Jungle Justice excuses what was done to the accused as there was no mobbing, dehumanisation or execution as opposed to the organised and well deserved beating he received.
I personally think it was not overdone and that it fulfilled its purpose of allowing the angered students show their pain and annoyance considering the magnitude of thievery that had been carried out and how broken the victims might had been; while still being humane (I mean, we gave him energy drink just to keep him normoglycemic lol).
Moreover, the direct punishment meted out will serve as a deterrent to others planning to tow that path; it will remind them that there are consequences to these things. I also loved that video recording was not allowed. This helped to prevent misinterpretation of the scene by online spectators who would most likely feel like we, the acclaimed smartest and best brains, should know better; but the context of the emotional and financial factors may be quickly taken for granted. In short, it was classically handled. Kudos to the defence team. Emmanuel (MBBS 2K21).
2. Jungle justice is always wrong because it denies suspects their fundamental right to human dignity and this right prohibits that suspects be tortured as it is in civilized climes.
Yes, stealing is a horrible crime and having read about all that has been taken away, I sincerely sympathise with those concerned but it’s pertinent to let the institutions of justice take hold and not us beating them and all that. That is not right and that is jungle justice. To humiliate another human being by stripping and beating is wrong and two wrongs can never make a right.
It is shocking that in COMUI, said to hold the best minds in the country, Jungle Justice is still being practised. This is a call for us to be humble as we all are still under the same sociological cum economical forces that are driving the people up North and in other places. We need to recognise this and adjust. (Nifemi Osakuade).
3. I didn’t really hear the full gist but what I heard was not okay at all. They shouldn’t have beaten the guy. I didn’t see it but I heard that the guy was beaten mercilessly. I felt that was not perfect justice. They should have handed the man over to the appropriate quarters. And if at all they would beat him, it should not have been to the point of bleeding, seeing that they are doctors also. (Anonymous).
4. Well, you know what they say, there is justice in the jungle. Actually, if you look at it objectively, it is wrong. It is Jungle Justice and we should follow the due process. But the thing is, Nigeria lacks the due process. I feel it is actually not that wrong because they didn’t actually carry out Jungle Justice. Jungle Justice means mob action like everybody just covering somebody and beating the person, burning him and so on. But what happened in ABH was organized, so I feel like it’s not too bad. They could have done worse things to the thief. If we had handed him over to the police, what would they have done? Moreover, they didn’t break anything in his body. It’s not too bad. (Anonymous).
5. I think what happened the other day is jungle justice and I still stand by it.This is because I think there should be measured punishments for different offences. It doesn’t have to be the constitution meting out punishment as there are/should be laws at different levels of human interaction and such that if we believe the judicial system and the police have failed us, we would still act in civility. No one should be “Judge, Jury and Executioner”. I believe in measured punishment for offences and not acting on the whims and caprices of one’s emotions. (Agozie Onuigbo).
6. I do not think that is jungle justice as I believe he got what he deserved coupled with the fact that the ‘’jungle justice’’ was just beating and the beating did not cost him his life or anything of such.Whatsoever beatings he received was due to frustration and since it was not extreme, it was justified. (Oluwafemi Ilelaboye).
7. It was not entirely the right thing to do but you can’t blame them (Brownites) because a lot of people have been victims of stealing. People were actually frustrated. I think that was why they did that. But we can just admonish ourselves because there is really nothing that is totally right or wrong. However, to be on the right side, it should have been left to the discretion of the defence minister to handle the case. (Anonymous).
8. It was good. I think there was nothing bad with them teaching him a lesson. It’s not like they killed him or burnt him alive. He has done a lot of bad things. Probably, if they turned him over to the police they wouldn’t get the justice that ought to be served. I feel it’s actually good that they beat him up. (Anonymous)
What are your thoughts about this? Kindly drop them in the comment box. Thanks.
