Jungle justice: Can Nigeria end the reign of mob violence?
‘The criminal justice system takes a long time, and people want justice immediately.’
Originally published on Global Voices
Nigerian policemen and women. Image by AMISOM Public Information on Flickr (CC0 1.0 Universal)
By Pamela Ephraim and Adewale Fajana
In Nigeria, jungle justice, a form of extrajudicial punishment carried out by mobs or communities who take the law into their own hands, is quite prevalent. Amnesty International reports at least 555 documented jungle justice incidents between 2012 and 2023 in Nigeria and describes the violence as escalating in brutality and scope.
It typically involves public shaming, beatings, torture, or even killings — often based on suspicion of a crime, without evidence, arrest, or trial. In 2022, a teenager accused of stealing a motorcycle was burnt to death by a mob in Edo state, with videos of the mob action circulated on social media. The next day, a 22-year-old female Christian student was stoned to death by a mob of Muslim students after being accused of blasphemy against Islam. In 2024, suspected phone thieves in Jos, Plateau State, were pursued, captured, and set ablaze by an angry mob. These incidents reveal a troubling pattern of impunity and slow or absent justice, as most mob members are rarely identified or prosecuted.
Why jungle justice persists
Despite its brutality, some Nigerians justify jungle justice as a necessary evil. They argue that police corruption, delayed justice, and perceived impunity make legal redress unreliable.
“At the moment, jungle justice seems better than the Nigerian justice system,” an X user shared in a popular post. Nigerian entertainer Skales said, “There is less crime in Nigeria compared to the UK because of jungle justice.”
While speaking in an X Space titled “Jungle Justice and Human Rights: Causes and Consequences in Nigeria,” Olalekan I. Oladapo, a lawyer, said,
The Constitution provides for a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and the burden of proof lies on the prosecution, not the defendant. So the problem does not largely lie in the judiciary; it lies in the system. The criminal justice system takes a long time, and people want justice immediately. Until we are able to put all the necessary reforms on this, we are still going to face the same problem.
Nigeria’s Assistant Inspector General of Police, Special Protection Unit, Olatunji Dusi, linked the persistence of jungle justice to crowd psychology.
“We cannot talk about jungle justice without talking about crowd psychology; the way people behave when they are in large groups, they see it as an opportunity for them to misbehave and do whatever because the power of the crowd gives them anonymity and the crowd influence enables them to make collective decisions.” He added that anyone can become a victim of jungle justice.
What can be done?
Oladapo identified the causes of jungle justice as “poverty and ignorance.” He said, “The government needs to do more to secure the welfare of the people and empower law enforcement agencies to make sure our justice system is effective and functional.”
Fukky Danladi Mashat, a legal practitioner in Abuja, Nigeria, told Global Voices that the menace can be curbed with the aid of “faster and more efficient prosecution of criminal cases, grassroots education on the dangers of jungle justice, strengthening accountability within law enforcement and judiciary, and prioritizing swift and transparent justice.
”By addressing these root causes, we can restore public trust, break the cycle of vigilante violence, and ensure true justice prevails,” she added.
Nigerian media professional, Sola Jaiyesimi, said the media has a role to play in naming and shaming perpetrators of mob violence. While citing the famous jungle justice incident of the Aluu Four lynching, he praised the judiciary for convicting a police officer for being complicit in jungle justice.
Amongst several recommendations made by Amnesty International, it noted that Nigeria’s police force of less than 400,000 personnel serving over 200 million people is grossly inadequate to ensure effective policing. It advises the government to enact anti-mob violence laws, ensure effective implementation of laws, and provide effective protection against violence in the name of religion.
Amnesty International Nigeria held a townhall stakeholders engagement on eradicating mob violence. The event held on Tuesday 1 July 2025 in Benin Edo state brought under one roof, market associations, law enforcement, civil society, activists, lawyers, journalists and students. pic.twitter.com/LI1mZYcY63
— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) July 5, 2025
These recommendations can go a long way in ensuring that jungle justice and mob action are nipped in the bud and reduced to the barest minimum, since the essence of law is to control and moderate human behavior for peaceful and orderly co-existence.