"Lack of justice can lead to another crime" - Man cries after grandson is wrongly lynched over Nokia handset -

An 83-year-old grandfather, Fidelis Jihan Linga, has asked for justice to be done in the brutal killing of his grandson, Sunday Ezra.

Ezra, a 22-year-old security guard, was lynched in the early hours of Monday, May 26, at New Trafford Hotels and Suites at Gwalameji in Bauchi State.

He was wrongly accused of stealing a Nokia handset before he was beaten by an irate mob.

Speaking at his residence in Anguwan Ngas area of Bauchi, Linga said that only justice would prevent friends of the deceased and angry youths from the area from reacting to his brutal killing.

The octogenarian advised the police not to attempt sweeping the matter under the carpet, saying he could not predict what would happen next should that be done.

“In those days nobody was above the law or greater than the authorities. If something like this happened in the past and police came to investigate, we had confidence that justice would be done. So I want the police to handle this case properly,” Daily Sun quoted him as saying.

He said his grandson was known as a peace-loving and law-abiding young man.

Narrating what happened, Linga said, “I was in church when the news reached me that he had been killed. I asked what happened. I was told that he was suspected of stealing a Nokia handset. He said he was not the one. I was told that the manager of the hotel started beating him and other staff joined. They broke his two legs and hands as I was told and he was cut on the head. After beating him they threw him somewhere and covered him with grass. He was later taken to hospital where he died. That is what I learnt.”

After Ezra was killed, his grandfather said, “someone suddenly surfaced that he wasn’t the one that stole the handset he was accused of, that this is the handset. I am appealing to the police to do their work properly to ensure that those who carried out this dastardly act must not go scot-free.”

The spokesman of the Bauchi State Police Command, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, confirmed that five suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident.

He added that investigation was ongoing.