On Friday, some very angry young people burned a man they thought was a thief at the Makurdi Modern Market in Benue State.
People say he broke into two shops at about 3:30 am and then tried to attack more people around 5 am.
He was part of a group of thieves, but he was the only one the angry young people caught.
One person who saw this, Peters Abo, said: “The man and his friends first stole things from a paint shop. Then, they went to a Bet9ja shop to rob someone there.
“But before they could finish, some people who lived nearby shouted for help. This made the young people in the area come out.
“The young people scared them away, but they went to another place to steal.
“Before this, they had already robbed other people. They even shot someone and took their motorcycle near Naka Road.
“The young people chased them and finally caught one of them. The others ran away, but this one was out of luck.
“At first, the young people threw stones and other things at him, but nothing happened. Then they set him on fire.
“They found a gun and a big knife with him. They tried to hurt him with those, but he didn’t die until they put a tire around his neck and set it on fire.”
Peters added: “This happened while some police officers were nearby. When they saw the thief, they called him by his name. They knew he had done many bad things before.”
At the time of writing this, the police spokesperson, SP Catherine Anene, was not answering her phone or messages.