Jungle justice is a practice that is especially rampant in
different parts of Africa. It is a practice where alleged criminal is severely
beaten, humiliated or in some cases murdered without recourse to judicial
procedure. Nigeria has had her own fair share of diverse ugly jungle justice
episode.
While growing up, I once witnessed, perhaps, the scariest
scene ever, when a group of young men ruthlessly stoned a middle aged woman to
death. It was such a gory scene that one is not likely to forget in a hurry. As
the woman was being ferociously bombarded by rains of stones, she made an
attempt to crawl away as she was now deeply drenched in the pool of her own
blood. But exhausted and worn out, her strength failed her and she simply
surrendered to the brutal reality of an agonizing death.
But then, since her assailants couldn’t possibly certify her
medically dead, they moved to the next phase of their mob action. A set of
abandoned motor tires were hurriedly assembled and drenched with some petrol to
set the lifeless body of the woman ablaze like a goat being made ready for
barbeque. Confused and saddened by the whole gory affair, I sought to find out
what the woman could have done to deserve such brutal treatment. And behold,
the response I got further left me completely bewildered. Her offence? She was
a ‘witch’!
Such is the extremism of exponents of jungle justice. They
are sometimes extremely irrational and overtly emotional. Those who engage in
the ugly act readily justify their action on the premise of complications
involved in getting criminals punished through the legal process. They often
express gross disdain for the justice sector which they tag as ‘corrupt’ and
‘inept’.
Security operatives, especially the police are usually
accused of conniving with criminals to pervert the course of justice, alleging
that many at times, criminals who are handed over to the police are usually
released in questionable circumstances. Hence, it is this lack of confidence in
the judicial system that many often hide under to commit all sorts of
atrocities in the name of securing extra judicial resolution.
However, irrespective of whatever logic that is behind
jungle justice, it is nothing but a totally lawless and condemnable act. It is
a dangerous act with the prospect of turning a society into an animal kingdom. It
is the height of lawlessness and barbarism. In most cases, those who perpetrate
the act only ride on popular emotion to get at perceived enemies or detractors.
Over time, it has been discovered that victims of jungle justice are often
innocent and harmless people who are just unfortunate.
It is sad and disgusting that a society could really slide
into such extreme acts of barbarism in the 21st century. We must respect the
sanctity of human life which is anchored on the sacred nature of life and the
fact that no one has the right to take it away, except God.
According to David P. Gusgee, a Professor of Christian
Ethics and Executive Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life Mercer
University, Atlanta & Macon , USA, all human beings, of any and every race,
color, ethnicity, level of intelligence, religion, language, gender, character,
behavior, physical ability/disability, potential, class, social status, etc,
are to be perceived as persons of equal and immeasurable worth and of
inviolable dignity and therefore must be treated and protected in a manner
commensurate with this moral status.
It is, perhaps, based on this notion that most nations of
the world now frown at capital punishment. While it is true that capital
punishment has been used in almost every part of the world, in the last few
decades, many countries have abolished it. The crusade for the abolition of
capital punishment is to further entrench the sacred nature of life. It is part
of the need to protect the human life that nations of the world spend so much
annually on security, health and other life related concerns. In most developed
countries, much is being done to ensure that man live in conditions that are
best suited for human development as against the survival of the fittest mode
of living that operates in most third world countries.
The human life is by far too invaluable to be subjected to
such gory experience as the one earlier illustrated above. Irrespective of any
grouse against the nation’s justice sector, strict adherence to law and order
remains the only sane way through which our society could operate. Any contrary
method would only lead to anarchy which eventually portends a great danger to
everyone.
It is, nevertheless, important to stress that the justice
sector in the country must be completely overhauled for the law to really take
its due course. Those who deliberately put a clog in the wheel of justice for
selfish reasons are not in any way different from those who engage in jungle
justice. In-fact, the one who intentionally hinders the course of justice is by
far guiltier of jungle justice. In order for us to effectively build a society
that is effectively premised on law and order, the justice sector must be
revamped. That is the only way forward.
Though, past experiences tend to suggest that the law might
no longer be sufficient in the war against criminality, the truth, however, is
that criminality is not bigger than the law. There is enough in the law book to
annihilate criminals and crime from the land. We only need to take decisive
steps to reform the administration of justice in the country. The judiciary is,
unfortunately, as corrupt as every other institution in the country.
Allegations of fraudulent deals and gross misuse of office
by judicial officers have continued to increase. Not a few judges have been
accused of collaborating with criminals to undermine the judicial process. At
every stage in the judicial system, one is confronted with unbelievable
monumental acts of complicity. From the Investigating Police Officer, IPO, to
other judicial officers involved, at one stage or the other, in a criminal
case, one is bound to come face to face with the awesome ingenuity of
dishonesty machinery in the country.
Therefore, we need to do a total overhaul of the nation’s
legal institution. Justice cannot be said to be served in a system that allows
‘small’ thieves to rot in prison while ‘big’ ones walk in absolute freedom.
Equally important is the need for accelerated hearing of all manners of cases
at all tiers of Courts.
The law is meant to trounce evil and evil doers. In any
society where the reverse is the case, injustice would reign supreme. If we are
to move forward and be taken serious as a people, we must change our ways.
Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information &
Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
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