The police command in Plateau has warned youths in the state not to take the law into their hands following a mob attack on a Lebanese accused of sexually molesting children.

The command’s police spokesman, Ubah Ogaba, gave the warning in a statement issued on Monday in Jos.

According to Mr Ogaba, anyone caught doing so will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

The warning followed a mob action against a Lebanese accused of sexually abusing some minors in the Abattoir community of Jos South local government area.

Mr Ogaba, who said the matter was under investigation, called for restraint on the part of the youth.

“On May 13, a woman, Mrs Iboro Samuel, resident at Giring, Abattoir area of Jos, reported at our station in the area that her 14-year-old daughter was sexually molested by a Lebanese national, Kfouri Sleiman, 61, residing at B/55/12 Giring Road Abattoir.

“The said Lebanese was promptly arrested and brought to the police station. In the course of preliminary investigation, the victim denied that she was molested by the suspect,” he explained.

He added, “However, as the news of the arrest of the suspect spread within the locality, seven other alleged victims of the same suspect, girls between ages 12 and 16 years old, came forward to narrate their encounters with the suspect on various occasions and how they were allegedly molested by him.”

Mr Ogaba said some youths in the area subsequently took the law into their hands by attacking the suspect’s residence and his neighbour, another Lebanese, named Elias Karka.

“Huge damages were done at both houses and some valuables, which total value is not yet known, stolen by the mob.

“The Commissioner of Police wishes to use this medium to warn against the use of self-help by the public and to appeal that any infractions of the law should be promptly reported to the police authority,” he warned.

Mr Ogaba assured the people that police command would not treat the matter with levity if reported.

(NAN)