By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

Recently, on the Nigerian social media space, video clips of suspected thieves who were usually subjected to many forms of caricatures continue to trend.

In the videos, the thieves, after being caught, are forcefully asked to dance or sing, to disgrace them as a form of punishment.

On the other hand, jungle justice in Nigeria has been prevalent for many years till today. This is an act of a local angry mob taking the law into its hands by beating suspected thieves to death or setting them on fire, rather than handing them over to relevant security agencies.

Over the years, the Nigerian government condemned jungle justice.

Claim

A video of a suspected thief who was disgraced and asked to make a fool of himself for stealing a loaf of bread has surfaced on the X platform, with users claiming that the man was later set ablaze.

A blog page, @heritagenewnet (Eastern Heritage Network), posted the clip of the suspected thief being disgraced and an image of where he was allegedly later set on fire.

The page on X claimed that “the young man in Benin was beaten and Bvrnt to death for stealing Bread.”

Another X user, @ThatOjoBoy, also posted the video and the photo, with a caption that reads, “Heartbreaking 💔😞 A street boy in Benin City was reportedly beaten and burnt alive by a mob after allegedly stealing a loaf of bread.”

Verification

FACTWATCH Nigeria subjected the image of the alleged thief being set ablaze in the posts to Google Lens and it discovered that the image was posted in September 2025 by Punch Newspaper.

Attaching the image when the story was shared on its Facebook page, Punch reported that year that a suspected motorcycle snatcher was set ablaze by a mob along Ibrahim Kashim Road in  Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State.

According to an eyewitness account, two passengers had hired a motorcyclist known as an ‘okada rider’  to take them to the railway quarters within  Makurdi.

Unknown to the motorcyclist, a gang member had stationed himself at the spot where the passengers decided to alight.

The eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Andrew Tergu, said that as soon as the two passengers alighted,  the other gang member, who had been waiting for his accomplices, approached the motorcyclist pretending to pay for the fare but rather brought out scissors and stabbed the rider several times.

This photo was also shared by other Facebook page and a blog here and here during that time.

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING.

A simple investigation has shown that the image used to show the thief claimed to have been set ablaze for stealing bread in Edo recently, was from Benue State.