A man, Joseph Agugom, and his brother Paul were almost lynched at Lawanson area of Surulere, Lagos during the weekend after the man’s wife, Justina Emmanuel, accused them of kidnapping her and her daughter, Munachisom, for ritual purposes.
Passers-by, who responded to the woman’s cry, were seen in a video footage, beating the men.
However, police said on Sunday that the men were wrongfully accused.
According to the police, the brothers were conveying her to a hospital with her hands tied to her back when she began screaming that she was being kidnapped.
“He is my husband, but I don’t know that he has been engaging in money rituals. I gave birth to three children; he had taken two of our children,” she said.
Lagos police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said investigation showed that Justina was suffering from mental illness.
Mr Elkana condemned members of the public for trying to subject the brothers to jungle justice.
He said the command was on the lookout for those who assaulted the brothers.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the victim is married to one of the suspects, Joseph Agugom, and the child belongs to both of them. It was also revealed that the victim was suffering from mental illness and she was being conveyed to hospital when she raised the alarm and some members of the public stopped the car and descended on the suspects.
“Members of both the suspects and victim’s families came to the station and made statements to the effect that the victim was suffering from mental illness and was actually being conveyed to hospital.
“The other two children the victim had with her husband were brought to the station contrary to the allegation of the victim that they were killed by the husband for money rituals,” Elkana said.
