CovenantJr wrote:
Avatar, is this par for the course for Africa then?!
Dunno if I'd say par for the course, but certainly not entirely uncommon. Vigilante "justice" is definitely not unknown, even in places with a stronger rule of law than Nigeria.
(Which isn't all that bad from what I know, although there has been some recent problems there as DotD will confirm I'm sure. Oil company issues, mainly, IIRC.)
Never underestimate the very real traditional and tribal ties, laws, etc. and sometimes a distrust of external authority, usually imposed.
I've tried before to convey the sense of "cheapness" which sometimes appears attached to life in Africa...violent and protracted conflict has marked generations, and casual brutality is unexceptional under certain conditions. The extraction of vengeance in particular. Add that to a historical trait of following the absolute authority represented by Chief or Monarch, and a desesitisation brought about by a life-times closeness to death and suffering...and it can be a dangerous combination.
--A