A suspected motorcycle thief was set ablaze and killed by a mob on Sunday, January 11, opposite a fuel station in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State.
It was gathered that the suspect allegedly snatched a motorcycle from an okada rider along Ahmadu Commisi Road in the Demekpe area. The owner of the bike, along with nearby youths, pursued the suspect until he was cornered at the Prime Power fuel station.
One witness explained, “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, identified as Onoja Okendu, expressed gratitude for surviving the incident. Okendu revealed that he acquired the motorcycle on hire purchase for N2 million in October 2025.
“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 step up surveillance, noting that motorcycles are frequently snatched at gunpoint during broad daylight despite restrictions on night-time riding.
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