Mozambique: Two killed in assault on Portuguese-owned farm near Beira

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Mozambique: Two killed in assault on Portuguese-owned farm near Beira

7:12 CAT | 12 Nov 2020

FILE- Spokesman for the PRM in Sofala Daniel Macuácua. [File photo: Miramar)

Two security guards at a Portuguese businessman’s farm near the city of Beira, Sofala province, were killed following a robbery in the early hours of today, a police source told Lusa.

The victims, who lost their lives on the spot, were reportedly tied up and murdered inside the farm by a group of six men, who later tried to break down the door of the main house, said Daniel Macuácua, spokesman for the police in Sofala.

“They tried to enter the main house, destroying the doors and windows. At that moment, the businessman asked what they wanted and they said money. And he threw a total of 40,000 meticais [462 euros] through the window and they took the amount and left,” the spokesman for the Mozambican police explained.

Inside the residence, at the time of the robbery, the Portuguese businessman was with his wife and daughter, he added.

In addition to the two fatalities, the group, armed with blunt objects and a gun, injured two other workers, who are hospitalised, according to the corporation’s spokesman.

“We have activated our lines of operation and steps are being taken in the field to find the gang, in a work that also involves the Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic),” he added.

This case comes at a time when Mozambique is facing a wave of kidnappings of entrepreneurs or their families.

Since the beginning of 2020, the Mozambican authorities have recorded a total of 10 abductions.

On Monday, the daughter of a Portuguese couple who owns the Burako da Velha restaurant in the city of Matola, on the outskirts of the capital, was kidnapped by an unknown group on the street of their residence, moments after leaving home.

In October, a group of businessmen in the city of Beira stopped their activities for three days in protest against the wave of kidnappings in the country.

The Confederation of Mozambique’s Economic Associations (CTA), the country’s largest employers’ association, has also called for a severe fight against this type of crime on several occasions, and even the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, has called for more measures.

Source: Lusa