A SUSPECTED phone snatcher said to be an undergraduate
of the University of Calabar, was killed by a mob at about 9 p.m,
Wednesday, for allegedly snatching a phone and a lady’s handbag.
The undergraduate
said to be operating with someone at large was alleged to have boarded a
taxi at Marian Road to Calabar South and when they got to Goldie by Atu
Street junction, they asked the taxi driver
to stop and while stepping down from the taxi, one of them grabbed the
lady’s handbag who sat next to him while the other snatched her phone.
“When
the lady raised alarm, some people chased the boys and one managed to
escape while the other hid himself in the gutter in front of my house, “
Dr Emmanuel Effiong Ene, a lecturer who witnessed the incident said.
According
to the lecturer, when one of the thieves escaped, the mob came after
the one who hid himself and descended on him with stones and cudgels.
”I
heard someone scratch a machete on the ground and soon after the boy
began to scream as he was being dealt machete blows,” he said.
The
machete cuts hacked off the suspect’s hands which left him dead and
was subsequently dragged from the gutter in front of 1 Gibson Street
and dumped at the junction between Goldie and Gibson with blood
splashing all the way.
“Some people bought tyres from the nearby
motor mechanic workshop to set him ablaze but only his head and eyes
caught fire, ”he added.
Large crowd gathered early in the morning
to behold the gory sight while residents of the g Gibson Street and
the adjoining streets stayed indoors or hurried off to work to avoid police arrest.
The
Deputy Superintendent of Police who gave his name as Edem that led
the team of policemen to take the decapitated body away at about 9am
yesterday, said the body would be taken to the General Hospital Calabar
for autopsy.
“It is against the law to just bury anybody who is killed in mob action without post mortem examination because in the event of any arrest and subsequent legal action, the cause of death has to be presented as evidence,” he said.

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