The Action Congress of Nigeria has condemned the lynching of four students of the University of Port Harcourt by a mob, saying such a barbaric act “debases our humanity and strips us all of our dignity.”
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said all those involved in the horrendous and callous act should be fished out and brought to justice to serve as a deterrence.
It said that in a society governed by law, it is imperative that those who are deemed to have committed any offence whatsoever be allowed to have their day in court rather than be subjected to mob justice.
“This is what informs the saying that it is better that 10 guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer,” the party said.
It described as encouraging the statement credited to the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, that the police will investigate the killing and that such act is unacceptable in any democratic society where the sanctity of human life remains key.
The ACN said all Nigerians should be concerned that the situation in the country has deteriorated to such a level that human beings could be so cruelly treated, so mercilessly beaten, so senselessly hacked and so callously doused in petrol and set ablaze, a treatment that should not even be meted out to animals.
The party added: “The implication of the incredible act of wickedness meted out to these young men is that many of our people are becoming numb to actions that should ordinarily jolt human sensibilities. This is what happens in an environment of uncontrolled violence as we have across our country now, where mass killings are becoming the norm.
“This is why the federal government, supported by all state governments and indeed all Nigerians, must wake up to its responsibility and strive to end the pervasive insecurity in our land.”
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