A mob in southern Nigeria kills 16 people they suspected of being kidnappers

ABUJA, Nigeria — A mob in southern Nigeria killed 16 people — at least some of them when tires were forced over their heads and shoulders and set on fire — because they were believed to be kidnappers, officials said Friday.

The victims from the country’s north were killed in the Uromi area of Edo State after being stopped by local security personnel. During a search of their vehicle, officers discovered locally made weapons and that triggered the attack by the mob, Edo police spokesperson Moses Yamu said in a statement.

Videos shared on social media showed the victims being brutalized before they were eventually set on fire with worn-out vehicle tires.

Mob violence in Nigeria has surged over the past decade. While attacks in the south are often linked to accusations of theft and witchcraft, the north has seen a rise in mob attacks over alleged blasphemy, according to a 2024 Amnesty International report.

In 2022, SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research group, said there have been at least 391 mob killings in Africa’s most populous country since 2019.

Ten from the group of travelers were rescued from the Thursday attack, which also left two people hospitalized with injuries, Yamu said.

The police spokesperson said 14 suspects were arrested in connection with the attack.

On a visit to the scene, Edo state Gov. Monday Okpebholo said the perpetrators would face the full wrath of the law.

“Nobody has the right to take another man’s life,” Solomon Osaghale, a representative of the governor, said in a statement.

The attack sparked outrage on social media, with politicians from the north condemning the killings.

In 2012, four students from the University of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State and one of Nigeria’s oil producing areas, were lynched after they were wrongly suspected of being armed robbers.

At the time, the attacks sparked nationwide outrage, igniting protests and debates about the country’s judicial system. Many believe the victims never received justice.

Shibayan writes for the Associated Press.