Five suspected kidnappers were on Sunday set ablaze by angry youths along the Afuze- Uokha Road in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
The suspects were said to have attacked and abducted some travellers along the lonely road and took them inside a forest.
However, luck ran out of the kidnappers as they were arrested by vigilantes who brought them out of the forest.
The angry youths, on sighting the criminals, took them from the vigilantes and burnt them to death.
Reports indicated that the kidnappers while taking their victims to the forest were unaware that the vigilantes who got wind of the occurrence had mobilised to engage them.
“The kidnappers would have been contacting the families of the abducted travellers for ransom if not for the bravery of the vigilantes, while residents, who were fed up with the criminal activities of these kidnappers set them on fire and left them to get burnt to death,” a source said.
Spokesman of the state police command, SP Bello Kontongs, who confirmed the incident, said the police had commenced investigation into the incident.
“After the kidnap, the vigilantes went in search of the criminals who they apprehended in the bush.
“As they were coming out in Uokha Community on their way to the police station, angry youths in Uokha and adjoining towns took away the suspected kidnappers from the vigilantes.
“All efforts to get the suspects to the police proved abortive as they were burnt to death.”
