Spokesman of the command, Mr Moses Yamu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident on Tuesday in Makurdi.

Yamu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the suspected robbers were lynched while carrying out a robbery operation at a petrol station in Adikpo.

He said that the manager of the station alerted the mob, while the robbers were still carrying out their operation in the early hours of Tuesday.

He said that the mob had already meted out the jungle justice on the suspects before the police arrived at the scene.

The spokesman, however, said that the police later deposited the three corpses at the Government Hospital, Adikpo.

Eyewitnesses told NAN that the robbers were known by the villagers owing to their frequent attacks on homes and petrol stations within the neighbourhood.

One of the eyewitnesses, who pleaded anonymity, said that due to the frequency of the attacks by the hoodlums, the villagers formed themselves into vigilance groups to defend the community.