Mozambique: “Armed robbery” in Pemba was false alarm – AIM report

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Mozambique: “Armed robbery” in Pemba was false alarm – AIM report

7:55 CAT | 14 Jun 2018

The Cabo Delgado provincial governor, Julio Parruque, came to the supermarket, and told the reporters he regarded the false alarm as “a joke in bad taste”, while the Catholic Bishop of Pemba, Luis Lisboa, said the rumour was “an act of great irresponsibility”, given the current climate of insecurity in the province. Photo: TVM

The alleged armed robbery on Wednesday at the Recheio supermarket in Pemba, capital of the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, was either a hoax or a false alarm.

After a thorough search of the premises, the police confirmed that there were no gunmen, nobody had been taken hostage and, contrary, to some claims, nobody had been killed.

Piecing the events together, Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias” says the false alarm began when the owners of the supermarket opened for the day, and feared somebody had broken in. Supposedly there were signs that the strongbox had been forced open and that the previous day’s takings had disappeared.

The supermarket’s own security guards then opened fire on a pile of boxes where the mysterious robbers were supposed to be hiding. One of the guards tried to dissuade his colleague from shooting without checking first. He grabbed his colleague’s gun, but the only result of this was that he was shot in the hand.

PEMBA

Recheiorecheio-1

When the police showed up at the supermarket, they surrounded the building and launched tear gas. Amidst the confusion, the twenty or so people who had supposedly been held hostage by the armed robbers fled from the building.

The police searched every room in the building and found no sign of any robbery, or of any thieves. The provincial police commander, Joaquim Sive, asked the owners of the supermarket if they had actually seen any intruders, and they admitted that they had not.

Rumours spread through the city. It was suggested that the Islamic terrorist group, known as “Al Shabaab”, which operates in the north of Cabo Delgado, had struck in the heart of Pemba. Some schools and other institutions shut.

When it became clear that this was a false alarm, the police detained the owners of “Recheio”, and the security guards, suspecting that they may have concocted the story to cover up a real robbery.

“Right now, stories are running through the city alleging that the armed group which is sowing terror in other parts of the province has struck at Pemba”, said Sive. “So we have to investigate the motivation of these people who gave the false alarm”.

Sive urged the public not to believe in rumours just because they are spread through social media. “We have to be careful not to get carried away by reports which have nothing to do with reality”, he said.

Recheiopemba-1

Foto de Governo da Provincia de Cabo Delgado.

Fear of an armed robbery against the supermarket was not irrational – a few days earlier a nearby shop really had been robbed in broad daylight by an armed gang, who stole about four million meticais (about 67,200 US dollars), and shot a security guard in the leg.

Source: AIM