Two men were killed by a mob along the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway in Abuja on Saturday, 15th February, 2025, after being accused of robbing a woman. Around 3 pm, the suspects, travelling in a commercial vehicle, allegedly robbed the woman en route from Gosa to the city centre, then forced her out of the vehicle.
A driver witnessing the incident narrowly avoided hitting the woman and began chasing the suspects’ vehicle, alerting others. The pursuit ended at ACO Estate Junction when another vehicle blocked the suspects’ attempted U-turn. The suspects abandoned their vehicle and fled on foot, but were quickly caught.
One suspect was beaten and set ablaze. The second was found motionless in a gutter, initially thought to be dead. An eyewitness, who was recording the scene, discovered the second suspect was alive. During questioning, the suspect confirmed he was from Ogun State and Yoruba.
“I went closer and saw that he was just sitting in the gutter. I started recording again, and people were asking him questions,” the eyewitness recounted. “They asked for his name, but he refused to say. When they asked where he was from, he said Ogun State. They also asked if he was Yoruba, and he confirmed it.”
Despite this, the mob returned and the aggression escalated. “While the interrogation continued, members of the mob who had initially assumed he was dead began gathering again. Within moments, the aggression resumed. They started coming back, one by one. Then they poured fuel on him, intending to set him on fire like they did with the other one.”
The suspect, weakened by the earlier beating, attempted to escape to a nearby church, Foundation of Truth Assembly (FOTA). “He was very weak because they had already beaten him badly before. As he approached the church, someone shouted that they shouldn’t kill him there. So, they dragged him away from the church premises to another property nearby, and was stoned to death.”
The vehicle allegedly used in the robbery was also set ablaze by the mob.
