The Cross River State Police Command has reacted to the burning of a 22-year-old suspected phone thief in Calabar by an angry mob.
The suspect identified simply as Eyo was set on fire by an angry mob on Sunday, April 9, 2023, in Esu Street, off Edim Otop Street, Atimbo, Calabar Municipality LGA of the state.
According to an eyewitness, Eyo had allegedly stolen an android phone the previous evening and fled, only to return the next morning and meet his tragic fate.
Residents claim Eyo, who resided around the Second transformer in Inyanghasang, had been involved in petty theft for a long time.
“I have known Eyo since secondary school, he has always been stealing, there was a time he stole half of the class school fees. Even as we grew into our 20s, Eyo became audacious in stealing and more notorious, he was always caught stealing, this is not the first time a mob tried to mob him, it’s unfortunate that he got unlucky today,” a source told Vanguard
“They started beating him with cutlasses and gave him deep cuts before setting him ablaze. Funny enough, it’s just for stealing an Android phone,” the source added.
The spokesperson of the command, SP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the incident, stated that it is illegal for anyone to take laws into their hands.
Ugbo added that the right thing to do would have been to report the suspect to the nearest police station and hand him over, rather than killing him in such a gruesome manner.
“The mob action against the suspect was illegal, barbaric and highly unacceptable, he should have been handed over to the police,” she added.
