Mob kills man suspected of attempted rape

A rape suspect, identified as Paschal Uba, has been macheted to death by an angry mob in Umuiwuogu umuabali, Ishi-Ubomiri autonomous community in Mbaitoli local government area of Imo State.

The 41-year-old suspect, who was an indigene of the village, allegedly attempted to rape a woman, simply identified as Ebere, on Monday, November 18, 2019.

Ebere had reportedly gone to farm in a nearby bush when the deceased, who was said to be mentally abnormal, made his attempt to rape her.

According to The Nation, Ebere screamed for help as Uba struggled to rape her.

It was gathered that some people, who heard her scream around the bush, rushed to the scene to rescue the woman from her attacker.

The attacker fled on sighting people approaching him, and was said to have fled the village. The villagers were said to have sent word across to the youths of the village, who organised a search party for Uba.

Uba did not return home until around 10 pm on Monday when he tried to sneak into his father’s house. Luck ran out on him as the youths who were searching for him apprehended him.

Uba was said to have been taken to the village square that night, where he was clubbed and matcheted to death by the youths.

Following the incident, operatives of the Nworieubi Police Division, on Tuesday, November 19, moved the deceased's corpse to a morgue.

The lynching, it was gathered, had led to the villagers fleeing their homes for fear of being arrested by the police.

Patrick Uba, the father of the deceased, stated that his son had never been accused of stealing or harassing people.

Uba added that to his greatest shock, he woke up to the news of his son's demise.

“I got a report from the villagers that my son attempted to rape one Mrs Ebere who went to her farm and the village youths chased him and he absconded. Since then I have not set my eyes on him because he did not sleep here last night, only for us to wake up this morning to hear that he has been butchered by the youth in the night while he was returning home," he said.

Lamenting the death of her son, the deceased mother, Gladys Uba, questioned why the village youths had to take laws into their hands.

“They conspired to murder my son because they felt we are nobody. My son has a twin sister who died last year and since then we have been in sober mood”, she cried.

She appealed to the police and the government to ensure that her son's murderers are brought to book, adding that he did not commit the offence for which he was killed.