Amputation: Leader of the vigilance group claims ignorance in Kogi
By Yabagi Ahmed
Facts have continued to emerge from the case of some suspected members of a vigilance group who were alleged to have gruesomely amputated the lower limbs of an Alloma resident, Victor Yunusa, who was accused of stealing a motorcycle belonging to a member of the vigilant group while he was tilling his land.
Speaking to newsmen, the leader of the group, Emmanuel Audu, 68, who is also cooling off in the cell of the Kogi sate Command of The Nigerian Police, denied knowledge of how the amputation came about, saying that he was not present at the scene of the scuffle that led to the inhuman act.
According to him, one of the members came to him to report that his motorcycle he rode to his farm was missing to which he promptly mobilized his men to go in search of the missing bike without success.
Mr. Audu further claimed that he was later informed by some local residents that a group of people were seen pushing a motorcycle, a news to which he mobilized his boys again in pursuit of the said persons without any success.
He said the amputation of Victor Yunusa was carried out without his knowledge, saying as the leader of the vigilance group, he reported to the Police Station in Alloma immediately he heard that a motorcycle was missing and that in the process of recovering it, someone got “injured”.
He claimed to have only gone to the Police to further give clarification as to what happened when the Police apprehended and kept him in their custody.
Also speaking, the father of the amputee, Mr. Isaac Yunusa, who defended his son, said, his son is not a thief and that the treatment meted out to him was inhuman and should not be condoned in any civilized society, adding that those responsible should be made to face the wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent to others that may have been nursing the same despicable act.
He commended the efforts of the Kogi State Command of the Nigerian Police for their swift response at addressing the problem, saying that a reaction of such is capable of resolving some of the security challenges facing the State.
