Background: Mob action is posing an undue social and public health problems in Niger Delta region of Nigeria; as victims who were said to have committed crime were violently killed without fair trial by law. There is need to research into the pattern, cause and frequency of deaths from mob action.
Aim: To study the pattern cause and frequency of death from mob action.
Setting: Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.
Design: Aten (1999-2008) consecutive autopsy on victims ofmob action.
Methodology: A thorough autopsy was performed on all the victims following standard method after being severed with the coroner's inquest form by police. Variables considered were the ages and sex, yearly frequency, methods applied in the killing and reasons that motivated the killing. These were obtained from the coroner's inquest forms, police, relations and eye witnesses.
Result: A total of thirty eight bodies were examined. Thirty four (89.5%) were males and four (10.5%) females; giving a male to female ratio of 8.5:1. The youngest was 16 years old male while the oldest 72-year-old male. Majority 30 (78.9%) of deaths occurred below the age of 50 years. Youths of the age group 20 29 were most involved and the highest frequency 12 (21.1%) of death was recorded in 2004. Beating 14 (36.8%) was the most common method applied for the killing while political violence 15 (39.5%) was the most common circumstances for the killing.
Conclusion: Killing by mob action is a social, legal and public health problem in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria that requires a swift government intervention to reduce the carnage associated with it. Problems of economic inequality, youth unemployment and corruption should be adequately addressed by the Nigerian government.