Mozambique: Police deny involvement in suspected kidnapping of ex-Renamo MP Sofrimento Matequenha

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Police deny involvement in suspected kidnapping of ex-Renamo MP Sofrimento Matequenha

7:27 CAT | 14 Dec 2020

Sofrimento Matequenha. [File photo: DW]

The former Renamo MP and provincial delegate in Manica, Sofrimento Matequenha was kidnapped from his residence early Sunday night, the family reported on Monday, but the police are unaware of the incident.

An armed group dressed in police uniforms broke into the victim’s house at sunset in the Nhamaonha neighbourhood, a suburb of Chimoio, Manica, in central Mozambique, taking him in a black vehicle with tinted windows, Lurdes Inácio, the politician’s wife said.

“They began by knocking on the gate and then, suddenly, I saw policemen armed with AKM jumping over the wall into the yard and my husband was on the balcony. That was when they gave him the order to go with them and they blindfolded him, jumped over the wall again and threw him into the vehicle,” explained Lurdes Inácio, who suspects that the case may be politically motivated.

“There were about 10 armed policemen and they had surrounded the house. I asked them ‘are you from the secret police SISE [State Security and Intelligence Service] or from SERNIC [Criminal Investigation Police]’, but they refused to answer,” adding that her husband had been suffering political persecution.

Silva Matequenha, the victim’s brother, who does not rule out political motives in the kidnapping, said that after the incident he contacted the two police stations closest to the victim’s residence, but did not get an answer regarding his brother’s whereabouts.

“I went to the first police station and then to the second and they said that he was not there and that I should go to the third and fourth police station, but those are outside the jurisdiction of the place of the kidnapping, so I realised that it is a game,” stressed Silva Matequenha, adding that since the kidnapping “no one has made any contact” [with the family].

Meanwhile, the police (PRM), in Manica, deny the kidnapping and advised the family to file a complaint at the nearest police station.

“So far the PRM throughout Manica province has not received any complaint, reporting the kidnapping of a senior member of Renamo, and we advise the family to submit a complaint to a police sub-unit to take steps to restore this citizen to freedom,” said Mário Arnaça, spokesman for the Manica police.

However, he denied the participation of officers, arguing that kidnappings are not a “police mission” because the institution exists to “guarantee the public order and the tranquillity of every citizen regardless of their political affiliation”.

Last week, the dissident leader of the self-styled Renamo Military Junta, Mariano Nhongo, denounced the kidnapping of his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Nhamatanda (Sofala) and in Chimoio (Manica) by people wearing the uniform of the Mozambican police, but the corporation also denied responsibility.

Source: Lusa