A 26-year-old man has been allegedly tortured to death by members of the Irri Community Vigilante Group in the Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim was tortured to death on Friday over the disappearance of N70,000 belonging to his uncle, who is a member of the vigilante outfit.

A source in the community told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that the victim, who hailed from the Emede community, visited his uncle in Irri.

The source stated, “In the course of his stay, he was accused of stealing N70,000 kept in the custody of his uncle, which he later confessed to after severe torture.

“Though the boy was not the only person in the house when the money got missing, but the uncle’s suspicion towards his nephew was because he was the only one who heard the phone conversation the uncle had with a friend over the N70, 000 kept in the house.

“When the uncle discovered that the money had been stolen, he summoned the nephew for interrogation and had him severely beaten up, but didn’t get any positive response from the victim; he consequently invited other members of his group.

“The vigilantes came and brutally tortured the victim; before the intervention of neighbours, he was already unconscious and finally died before they could rushed him to hospital.”

It was learnt that the deceased’s family paid back the N70,000 and demanded that their son must be brought to them alive.

When contacted the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, on Saturday promised to get back to our correspondent with the details of the incident but had not done so as of the time of filing this story on Sunday.

But a source at the Oleh Divisional Police Station said some persons had been arrested in connection with the young man’s death, while other had fled the community.