Mob kills undergraduate over alleged phone theft

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.