The youths of Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State have set five suspected kidnappers ablaze at Afuze-Uokha.
It was learned that the suspects were said to have attacked and abducted some travelers along the road and taken them inside a nearby forest.
However, luck reportedly ran out of the kidnappers, as they were arrested by vigilantes who brought them out of the forest.
According to NAN, the youths, on sighting the suspects, seized them from the vigilantes and burnt them to death.
The suspected kidnappers were said to have taken the travelers into the bush, without knowing that the vigilantes, who had gotten wind of the incident, were on their trail.
“The kidnappers would have been contacting the families of the abducted travelers to ask for ransom if not for the bravery of the vigilantes, while residents, who were fed up with the criminal activities of these kidnappers, set them on fire and left them to get burnt to death,” a source said.
Confirming the incident, Spokesman of the Edo Police Command, Bello Kontongs, said an investigation is ongoing.
He said:
“After the kidnap, the vigilantes went in search of the criminals who they apprehended in the bush.
“As they were coming out in Uokha community, on their way to the police station, angry youths in Uokha and adjoining towns took away the suspected kidnappers from the vigilantes.
“All efforts to get the suspects to the police proved abortive as they were burnt to death.”
