Angry youths burn suspected okada snatcher to death in Makurdi

A suspected motorcycle robber was on Sunday lynched by an angry crowd near the Prime Power petrol station in Makurdi, Benue State, according to PUNCH Metro.

Sources disclosed that the suspect allegedly dispossessed an okada rider of his motorcycle along Ahmadu Commisi Road in the Demekpe area of the metropolis.

Following the incident, the victim was said to have raised an alarm and rallied youths in the neighbourhood, who pursued the suspect until he was intercepted close to the Prime Power filling station.

A youth identified simply as Tony narrated that the suspect attempted to flee immediately after taking the motorcycle, prompting eyewitnesses to give chase.

“After snatching the motorcycle from the owner, the thief sped off, and the youths who witnessed the incident decided to chase him.

“He was caught while waiting to cross the road, as vehicles coming from Ankpa Quarter Junction halted his escape.

“Immediately he was caught, the boys went to a vulcaniser’s workshop, brought out tyres and set him ablaze before a police patrol team from ‘D’ Division could arrive at the scene.”

The motorcycle owner, Onoja Okendu, expressed gratitude to God for sparing his life during the attack.

He explained that he acquired the motorcycle through a hire-purchase arrangement in October 2025 at the cost of N2m.

“This is how it happened. I was coming from the Wadata area through the NKST sharp bend towards the Modern Market. Immediately I passed the church, I saw this young man and, because it was Sunday, I thought he was coming out of the church when he stopped me and boarded the bike without saying anything.

“Immediately, he climbed onto the bike, and we moved towards the Demekpe Primary School. He asked me to stop, saying he forgot something. As I stopped, the next thing I saw was that he brought out a gun and asked me to run.

“I started running and at the same time shouting, ‘Thief! Thief!’ The people around the petrol station blocked him as he was waiting for other vehicles to pass before he could enter the main road. Other okada riders were also chasing him.”

Okendu appealed to the government and security agencies to strengthen monitoring and patrols, lamenting that motorcycle thefts at gunpoint still occur in daylight despite existing restrictions on night operations.

Attempts to obtain comments from the Benue State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to her were not returned as of the time this report was filed.