A suspected motorcycle snatcher was on Sunday beaten and set ablaze by an angry crowd near the Prime Power filling station in Makurdi, Benue State, DAILY POST gathered.
Sources said the incident followed the alleged forceful dispossession of a motorcycle from an okada rider along Ahmadu Commisi Road in the Demekpe area of the state capital.
It was learnt that after the motorcycle was taken, the rider raised an alarm and rallied youths in the neighbourhood, who pursued the suspect through several streets before intercepting him at the Prime Power fuel station.
A youth in the area, who simply gave his name as Tony, narrated how the chase ended.
He said, “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 ordeal.
Okendu disclosed that he acquired the motorcycle under a hire-purchase arrangement for N2 million in October 2025.
Recounting the incident, he said, “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.”
The victim appealed to the government and security agencies to boost surveillance, lamenting that motorcycle snatching at gunpoint continues in broad daylight despite restrictions on night operations.
Attempts to get comments from the Benue State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Udeme Edet, proved unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to her were not returned as of the time of filing this report.
