An angry mob yesterday pounced on two young men suspected to have attempted to steal a car on the Solomon Lar Way, Utako, beating them with iron rods and hurling stones and other missiles at them.

Some people in the crowd at the busy mall where the failed car theft was said to have occurred, chased the suspects as they tried to escape in their getaway vehicle, an Abuja painted Volkswagen Golf taxi cab, with no number plates.

The suspects, obviously aware of the consequences should they be caught, drove off rather desperately but ended up crashing into a protective concrete slab.

They abandoned the car and took to their heels but the crowd caught up with them, near a vulcaniser’s shed, and in less than 10 minutes, they were bleeding profusely from the beating and stoning they were subjected to.

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With tires not far away, shouts of: “bring matches,” “bring petrol,” “yes, burn them, “beat them,” filled the air and, but for the intervention of a good Samaritan, they would have been burnt alive.

The police arrived in time and whisked them away.