Audience perception of whats app videos of jungle justice in onitsha and its influence on attitude change

Jungle Justice is not just a crime but a heinous punishment on the individual who survives it, because it continues to live with them as a traumatic effect. WhatsApp as a social networking site is more personal-related, connecting the user to those with close affiliations. Videos of mob assault is shared on WhatsApp to assess the reaction, as well as perception of individuals on the ways of controlling and minimizing the rate of meting out punishment that is not within the jurisdiction of the law of the victim that is mobbed. This study aimed at ascertaining Onitsha residents’ perception/reaction to WhatsApp videos on jungle justice in Onitsha, investigate the influence of exposure to WhatsApp videos on jungle justice on Onitsha residents and then assess whether there is a significant relationship between exposure to WhatsApp videos on jungle justice in Onitsha and attitude change. The study is hinged on uses and gratifications as well as cultivation theories. Survey research method was adopted in the study and a sample size of 399 was selected from the population of those living in Onitsha. The purposive sampling technique was also employed in selecting the samples from the population. Findings revealed that greater percentage of the respondents agreed that exposure to these videos have influenced them; this influence navigates through the area of attitude change and the area of reflection on ways to curb the widespread of these gruesome mob activities. Also, the respondents believed that there was a relationship between exposure to the video-clips and attitude change, because their exposure to WhatsApp videos on jungle justice in Onitsha gave rise to some kind of empathy and warning for relations against being lynched. The study therefore recommends that individuals whose perceptions are changed as a result of their exposure to such videos should act on their impulse through community and rural sensitization on the negative effects of jungle justice, calling on the people to always seek the face of justice in every situation.