A middle-aged man whose identity was not known has been reportedly beaten to death by a mob in Osogbo, capital of Osun State for allegedly stealing a motorcycle.

The suspect was said to have been caught red handed riding away a Bajaj motorcycle at a filling station at Oke-Baale Area in Osogbo on Monday night.

It was gathered that the owner of the motorcycle, motorists and commercial motorcyclists had besieged a filling station at about 7:30p.m. at Oke-Baale area to purchase the scarce commodity.

An eyewitness and commercial mini bus driver, who simply identified himself as Toheeb, said the suspect allegedly took advantage of the rush at the filling station to commit the alleged offence.

“I visited the petrol station to buy fuel at about 7:00p.m. and met a lot of people there. One of the Okada riders that parked their motorcycles forgot to remove his key from the ignition hole. The man saw it and immediately ignited the motorcycle and drove it away.

“Luckily for the owner, he looked back and saw the man. He raised an alarm and they started chasing him. The suspect eventually abandoned the motorcycle and ran into a bridge close to the petrol station.

“People attacked him there and beat him to a pulp. Blood was all over him. He was left unconscious.

“It was when some policemen came and picked him that they realised he had died. They took his corpse away,” the witness said.

At press time, spokesperson for Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola was yet to react to the incident.