ABAKALIKI—A 32-year-old man, Mr. Simon Mbam, of Izzi Local
Government Area of Ebonyi State has committed suicide after he was tortured by
some villagers for allegedly stealing N1,000 from a shop in the market.
The victim, who jumped into a
pond in the area last weekend, found himself in the mess when he left his house
in the evening of the fateful day to buy drinks with his friends.
While late Simon and his friends
were busy sipping their drinks, the owner of the shop raised an alarm over a
missing N1,000 in his carton of drinks, but no customer admitted to haven taken
the money.
The alarm raised by the shop
owner attracted villagers who stormed the scene and gave the suspects till the
following day to return the money or face the consequences.
It was learned that the said
missing money was found at the door step of the shop, but when the villagers
who were determined to get to the root of the matter gathered, the owner of the
shop insisted on knowing the person behind the act.
Vanguard further gathered that the suspect, who later confessed to
the crime, was allegedly beaten by the irate villagers until he started
bleeding and losing consciousness.
They demanded that he should be
treated like a thief, even as he was fined two goats, two crates of beer and
N5,000, which were immediately provided by the suspect’s mother (names withheld).
It was gathered that the village
head rejected what the suspect’s mother brought,
insisting that an additional N5,000 should be provided so that the matter would
be completely resolved without involving the police.
This second demand by the
villagers made the suspect, who felt humiliated by the entire process, escape
from his captors and jumped into Aku Pond, which was not far from the market
square.
All efforts to rescue him on
time proved abortive as he drowned before his body was retrieved by the
villagers.
Meanwhile, four persons
including the village head, had been arrested by the police after the mother of
the victim reported the matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment