Mob lynches mentally-challenged undergraduate in Lagos

A mentally-challenged man, identified as Jideofor Chigozie, has been lynched at Onireke in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that the 23-year-old mentally-challenged undergraduate was lynched after he was mistaken for a robber.

Chigozie, a final year student of Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka in Anambra State, was said to have jumped into the building on Sunday before he was beaten to death by the residents of the building.

Sources disclosed that a relation of the victim, who had been looking for him, sighted him jumping into the compound and made effort to rescue him from the residents of the building before the police were invited to the scene.

The incident was confirmed by the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, noting that the landlord of the building and three others have been arrested in connection with the incident.

According to NAN, Hundeyin, on Tuesday, said the incident was another sad case of jungle justice.

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He added that preliminary investigation revealed that the victim left home without his caregivers, stressing that the occupants of the building he allegedly jumped into mistook him for a thief.

“The victim was mentally-challenged and they were taking care of him in his house. But on that particular day, his family members were not around, and usually, when they were not around, they locked him in his room.

“Somehow, he was able to get out of the room, walk around, and scale the fence into somebody else’s premises. So, people took him for a robber, attacked him, and beat him to a pulp.

“The police got there when they got wind of what was happening and took him to the hospital where he died on Sunday.

“The landlord, the security man, and two other people have been arrested for the crime,” the police spokesperson said.

The Star