A mentally ill undergraduate identified as Chigozie Jideofor has been killed in a mob attack after jumping into the compounds of two residential buildings around Onireke, opposite the Ojo Military Cantonment, Ojo, Lagos State.
Jideofor who was suffering from mental illness, was with a friend at their residence on Onugah Street, Onireke.
The duo, who spent the night together, were said to be sleeping when Chigozie reportedly suffered a relapse in the early hours of Thursday.
His friend was said to be asleep when he woke up, left the building and started wandering around the neighbourhood.
Shortly after he left the house, the friend, upon sensing his absence in the room around 2am, searched other parts of the building before embarking on a lone search for the whereabouts of the 23-year-old.
During the search, a source, who spoke to Punch on Monday, said the friend spotted him from afar jumping into a compound.
The source noted that the friend, who suspected that Chigozie was having his mental crisis, rushed to rescue him.
“But when he got there, he realised that the residents of the building had apprehended his friend. The residents quickly raised the alarm and started questioning Chigozie. Immediately, his friend told them that he was suffering from a mental condition but the angry residents tagged him as an accomplice.
“They were still arguing when Chigozie suddenly broke off, jumped another fence and landed into another compound.
“The residents of the second building, who were already awake because of the alarm raised by the people in the first building, also apprehended him.
“At the first building, we gathered that the residents started attacking Chigozie’s friend but he was able to escape to alert his friend’s family members.
“The residents started attacking Chigozie and used machetes and cutlasses to cut him all over his body. They injured him badly before handing him over to the neighbourhood security guards.”
The source said when his friend informed his family members, they rushed to the scene around 6am and met Chigozie in a pool of blood, adding that they rushed him to a nearby hospital.
The source stated that Chigozie died on Sunday, July 31, 2022, while receiving treatment at the hospital, Punch reported.
He said, “Instead of handing him over to the police, they attacked him. One of the suspects actually tendered one of the cutlasses as evidence at Onireke Police Station. We had to rush Chigozie to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment.
“I am aware that he was suffering from a psychological condition because I had seen him behave in a strange way before. Whenever his illness started, he would just be acting funny but on a good day, he acted well.
“He was even in his final year at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University. He was at home because of the strike. We gathered that about four suspects have been arrested and another suspect who has a shop in Trade Fair is still on the run. We want justice for Chigozie.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said Chigozie left home without his caregivers, adding that residents in the building he jumped into mistook him for a thief.
He said, “He (Chigozie) was mentally challenged and they were taking care of him in his house. But on that particular day, his family members were not around and usually when they were not around, they locked him in his room.
“But somehow, he was able to get out of the room, walked around and scaled the fence into somebody’s premises. So, people took him for a robber, attacked him and beat him to a pulp.
“The police got there when they got wind of what was happening and took him to the hospital. He died on Sunday. The landlord, security man and two other people have been arrested.”