Mozambique: Police stations must not be nests of kidnappers – Watch

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Mozambique: Police stations must not be nests of kidnappers – Watch

3:06 CAT | 18 Feb 2022

Screen grab: TVM

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday branded as completely unacceptable the transformation of police stations into breeding grounds for kidnappers.

Addressing in Maputo the opening ceremony of a meeting of the Coordinating Council of the Ministry of the Interior, Nyusi urged the participants to craft concrete solutions to relentlessly fight the evil that has been weakening the collective action of the police, as guardians of the security of Mozambicans as well as of foreigners living in the country.

“I cannot accept that police stations become nests of kidnappers, and the commander of the station has top responsibility on the matter. If he does not know the life of his staff, he should resign from his post,” Nyusi declared.

He added that it was shameful to be the commander of a police station branded by the public as a den of kidnappers.

If you are leading kidnappers, Nyusi added, then you are unworthy of the trust and confidence the Mozambican people place in you. “How come a kidnapping occurs just a few metres away from a police station, with the victims shouting for help, but there was no rapid reaction by the police force?”, he asked.

The proximity of police stations to the sites of kidnapping has been noted repeatedly. The latest kidnapping of a businessman of Asian origin, was within a stone’s throw of the first police precinct in downtown Maputo.

Nyusi stressed that there is no development without effective security, and therefore it is extremely important to move on with the professionalisation and equipping of the Mozambican police.

Success in professionalisation and capacity building, Nyusi said, are the most important conditions for meeting the multiple and changing threats the country has been facing. He also called for strict screening criteria for candidates for jobs in areas covered by the Interior Ministry including criminal investigation, the immigration service, civil identification and the fire brigade.

“Do not allow the intrusion into the police by individuals with dubious interests, who will only subvert police standards and jeopardise the security of society,” he said.

The modus operandi of threats such as terrorism, illegal immigration, kidnappings, human and drug trafficking, and other crimes must supply the necessary information that will enable a profound and better response. Nyusi stressed the need to boost institutional capacity to prevent, monitor, foresee and eliminate these evils.

Watch the TVM report.