Some residents in Gwagwalada area of the FCT have cautioned against lynching of suspected persons caught for allegedly stealing of residents’ manhood.
The residents spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
They expressed concerns following recent outcry of some men and women in the area, alleging to have lost their private parts to suspected manhood and breast thieves.
Peter Nwajiofor, a businessman said cases of alleged missing penis and breasts are on the rise in Gwagwalada as they keep emerging on daily basis.
Nwajiofor said he had witnessed two cases in the past weeks where people raised the alarm of missing manhood.
“I don’t know how true it is but I have witnessed two cases here in Gwagwalada where they said they answered greetings from strangers and suddenly discovered their manhood were not there again.
“This issue is on the increase and the police need to act fast before an innocent person is killed for an offence he or she knows nothing about.
“I don’t support jungle justice in anyway, any accused person should be handed over to the police for investigation and necessary action taken if found guilty,” he said.
Fatima Abdullahi, a public servant, said that she had heard of cases of missing private parts in recent times in Gwagwalada but never believed it until she witnessed one on Sunday in the market.
She said it was a case of a businesswoman who sells grains in Gwagwalada Market alleging that a man hit her and her two breasts disappeared.
According to her, the man ran away when the woman raised the alarm and was not caught.
Mr Ayobami Amusu, a resident of Gwagwalada said most Nigerians now take laws into their hands because they do not have confidence in the police.
Amusu said people prefer to handle things in their own ways which is very wrong as an innocent person could be killed in the process.
“People do not trust the police anymore, most times the victim turns out to suffer while the accused person go Scott free.
“The issue of missing private parts is a serious one because that is what makes you a man or woman.
“I don’t know how true this issue is for someone’s manhood or breasts to disappear but the days are evil, people are in a haste to make quick cash, so anything can happen,” Amusu said.
Similarly, Mr Emmanuel Ofodili said that his 22-year-old son’s manhood was stolen by someone in their neighbourhood, adding that the penis was there but smaller than the initial size.
Ofodile said that he was sleeping on that fateful morning when his son entered the house and told him that a man in their neighbourhood touched him on his head and immediately he could not feel his manhood again.
He said that upon torture, the man returned his son’s manhood but his son has not fully regained himself, adding that he still visits the hospital.
NAN reports that one Rabiu Moyi, who resides in Gwagwalada on Sept. 20 accused another man of stealing his manhood and the accused was beating resulting to serious injuries on his eye and hand.
NAN also reports that that the accused person was rushed to the hospital for medical attention, adding that Moyi later told the police that his manhood was never missing.
An anonymous person said that since the rumor of this organ snatching, he has not seen anybody whose male organ was stolen.
“All these are all rumors and fabricated stories and should not be accepted. This issue has posed a lot of fear and threat on the lives of residents.
“Residents are now taking laws into their hands, beating up and killing innocent citizens for a crime they do not commit all in the claim that their manhood is stolen,” he said.
He called on the general public to desist from these as anyone caught would be prosecutor accordingly.