Mozambique: Two missing following shipwreck in Metuge
CoM (file photo)
The Mozambican police have insisted that the man shot dead in the Chiango neighbourhood, on the Maputo Ring Road, last Friday, Ramiro Chilaule, was not a member of the police force.
Immediately after the shooting, a police spokesperson, Paulo Nazare, claimed that Chilaule was a criminal who passed himself off as a police officer. This version was promptly denied by the dead man’s family, and by the Mozambican Police Association (which represents former members of the police force).
But on Monday, the Maputo city police commander, Bernadino Rafael, cited by the independent television station STV, categorically denied that Chilaule was, or ever had been, a police officer.
Speaking at a police ceremony, Rafael sad “we challenge the Association of former policemen to explain and prove what they claim”.
Chilaule’s name was not on the police data base, added Rafael – indeed, there was nobody with the first name Ramiro in the police force, not only in Maputo, but anywhere in the country.
Rafael also expressed concern at the proliferation of illegal firearms in the city. He insisted that the police will round up unauthorized guns, in order to guarantee public order and security.
Even people who are licensed to carry firearms must contact the police in order to have the guns regularly checked. If a gun has been fired, its owner should inform the police how many bullets were used and for what purpose.
This was crucial, said Rafael, since some of those who ask for a firearms licence use their guns, not for self defense, but to commit crimes.
He urged anyone in possession of an illicit weapon to hand it in to the police. “We are concerned about guns that are in the wrong hands”, he said. “We invite all those who have guns to hand them over to the police. Firearms should not be kept underneath anybody’s bed”.
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