From pepper to twerking: Nigeria’s growing jungle justice trend sparks legal warning

A disturbing trend of publicly humiliating suspected thieves — forcing them to eat raw pepper, wear stolen items as crowns, dance, sing and twerk before jeering crowds — is spreading across Nigeria, particularly in Benin City and Asaba, sparking fierce debate between those who see it as deserved deterrence and lawyers who warn it is unlawful jungle justice.

Forget the police. In parts of Nigeria right now, the crowd is the judge — and the sentence comes with a performance requirement.

A growing wave of viral videos is capturing what has become a disturbing social trend: suspected thieves in various Nigerian cities being subjected to public humiliation, degrading punishments and mob-enforced spectacles instead of being handed to law enforcement authorities.

The trend, which social media users have tagged “99 days for the thief, one day for the owner,” is particularly prevalent in Benin City, Edo State, and Asaba, Delta State, though incidents have been reported across the country.

The cases are as varied as they are alarming. Two young men accused of stealing pepper were forced to eat the raw chillies while washing them down with dry gin. A man in Benin City accused of stealing electrical wires was compelled to fashion them into a crown and wear it on his head while rapping for a mocking crowd. Another theft suspect was forced to dance, sing and twerk as stolen cooking pots were displayed around him. At the National Open University of Nigeria, a man accused of stealing laptops was made to dance before a cheering audience.

Public affairs analyst Simon Zion captured the absurdity with dark humour. “If you don’t have any talent, please don’t steal in Nigeria at this time. If you’re caught and you can’t sing or dance, you’re on your own,” he said.

But Abuja-based lawyer David Mike Agada was unambiguous in his condemnation of the trend, as reported by Daily Post. “The law is very clear. A suspect remains innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Subjecting anyone to public humiliation, assault or degrading treatment is unlawful,” Agada stated, stressing that members of the public have no legal authority to punish anyone regardless of the allegation.

Law enforcement authorities had not issued official statements on most of the viral incidents at the time of this report.