UPDATE: MOB KILLS SUSPECTED THIEF IN BENUE

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A suspected thief was mobbed to death on Wednesday near Modern Market in Makurdi, Benue State, after allegedly attempting to steal from a church in the area.

According to witnesses who spoke with newsmen, the deceased and two accomplices reportedly broke into a church office, stealing valuables before attempting to flee. Residents nearby spotted the suspects escaping, gave chase, and caught one, while the other two managed to escape.

One resident recounted, “Although robbers have been terrorising us here for a while now, today, while I was coming back from work, a girl who was going to a church nearby said that she saw three young men enter the church.

“It was the girl who later raised the alarm, which drew the attention of neighbours around, and immediately we saw them (the suspects) trying to escape.

“While two of the suspects escaped, one of them was unlucky, as people hacked him to death.”

The corpse of the suspect was said to have been evacuated by policemen who later visited the scene of the incident.

The Assistant Public Relations Officer for the State Command, Harry Ekwo, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, said that the command could not ascertain if the deceased was an armed robber.

“No one has made any formal report of any church theft, although the police have evacuated the corpse and deposited it in a morgue,” he said.