He held his face with his right hand, blocking his nostrils due to the annoying stench of what seemed like a mixture of burning tire and barbecue. He wondered what was being burned this busy afternoon right in a busy place like the market. He walked slowing, tracing the smoke rising into the clouds above him. As he neared the place, large decibels of noise began to filter into his eardrum. The market was a noisy place but this seemed to be more like noise from a riot rather than a rowdy market on a hot summer afternoon. Perhaps two traders were fighting. But what then was the cause of this puffing smoke? Were things being set on fire? Those were the questions that puzzled his mind as he followed the smoke which led him right to the part of the marketplace where foodstuffs were sold.
He saw people, gathered together to form a circle about something on fire, perhaps set on fire by them. The mob seemed angry but also excited at the same time. Curious, he found his way into the circle and pushed forward to see what was amusing this people so much. As he finally reached the front of the circle, he looked up and what he saw made his head reel in drowsiness and he quickly headed out of the circle to avoid the horrid sight. It was the body of what seemed like a young girl with a tire around her neck, burning right there with all these people watching. Disgusted, he wondered why these people were roasting a human being like themselves like she was meat for barbeque or something.
He tapped the woman next to him, “Excuse me ma”
“Hello Uncle”, the fat woman who seemed barely able to remain on her feet replied, heaving like she had just run a thousand miles
“Please, what did this girl, ma?”
“Oh! That one? She’s a thief now and no sinner must go unpunished oh”
“What exactly did she steal to deserve being burnt”, he asked, puzzled.
“I don’t know what she stole but I know she stole something”
His curiosity led him into questioning a few more people around and after a few minutes of questioning various people, he was shocked at the responses he got.
"I heard she stole garri", a black man with dirty beards said, scratching his jaw.
"She Stole some money", another man shrugged
"She stole beans", a slender woman said.
While these people stood here chanting in support of the jungle justice going on, it was apparent that few of them really knew what was actually going on or why the girl was being punished in such a gruesome manner. To them, she was simply an offender because someone had called a thief and now she must face the consequences to allow for a so called “justice”. They didn’t care what she had done. He felt they hardly gave a damn about justice, perhaps for them, this was just some form of hellish entertainment and something to feed their eyes with. They were animals, the lots of them for this was more of a jungle than justice