As outrage continues to trail the mob killing of 16 northern travellers at Uromi in Edo State, while transiting from Port Harcourt in Rivers State to Kano State, some of the survivors have recounted their ordeal and circumstances of the carnage.
President Bola Tinubu, Northern Governors Forum, and others have condemned the murder of the travelers said to be hunters, urging investigation and justice.
The travellers were reportedly on their way to Kano for the Sallah celebration when a mob intercepted and lynched them on suspicion that they were kidnappers.
In a viral video , the deceased were seen rounded up by some youths who eventually set ablaze after they were tied to used tyres sprayed with petrol.
The Edo State Police Command said 14 suspects had been arrested in connection with the incident.
A statement by the command’s spokesperson, CSP, Moses Yamu, said, ‘‘on March, 27, 2025, a truck with registration number KKF 225 XA, coming from Port Harcourt, conveying 25 travellers from Elele, a suburb of Rivers State, was accosted by some vigilante group members at Uromi.
“Some of the travellers who were found in possession of locally made Dane guns were arrested.
“While this was ongoing, some vigilante members raised an alarm of them being suspected kidnappers, which led some members and passersby in the community to attack and lynch 16 of the occupants while the truck conveying them was equally burnt”.
He said the police went to the scene where 10 of the travellers were rescued, while two of those who sustained various degrees of injuries were rushed to a hospital and that they are responding treatment.
A survivor, Dayyabu Yahya, recounted how he and four others escaped lynching: “Our journey was peaceful from Port Harcourt until we reached Uromi, where trouble began. Vigilantes stopped us. I was seated in the front seat. They ordered our driver to step out of the vehicle, but he refused. In response, they flogged him. They also ordered the other passengers to get down from the vehicle, during which they beat us up before grouping us together.
“They inspected our belongings but found nothing suspicious—only some licensed Dane guns. There were about 27 passengers in the vehicle. I can’t say how many of us are missing, but I know that two passengers were hospitalised.”
Another survivor, Mustafa Ali Kassim, said, “The vigilantes started beating us as we were stepping out of the vehicle. After gathering us in one place, the locals joined in and continued the assault. Eventually, the vigilantes stepped back and allowed the locals to beat us while they stood idle, watching. Realising that we would likely be killed, some of us made a run for our lives—I was one of them. While fleeing, I encountered kind-hearted Hausa people, who gave me some money, which I used to reach the Hausa community leader here.”
