‘Nacatanas’ terrorise Nampula neighbourhoods

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‘Nacatanas’ terrorise Nampula neighbourhoods

1:31 CAT | 01 Aug 2016

Voa (File photo)

Gangs of masked men armed with knives and commonly known as “nacatanas” or “groups of 15” are terrorising neighbourhoods in Nampula, northern Mozambique.

The groups masquerade as community police but infact assault, rape, murder and steal.

The criminal gangs are most active in Namicopo, Napipine and Mutauanha neighbourhoods and sprang up long ago but recently their activities have grown alarmingly.

In Napipine, for example, a group is thought to have murdered two young men already this year and beat another, still hospitalised, unconscious. They are also accredited with multiple burglaries and the rape of a number of women.

People in the affected neighbourhoods live in fear of going out at night, and even of sitting in their own backyards, and say they are forced to go to bed early because of the danger.

One of the residents who requested to remain anonymous for fear of the consequences, said that his son was murdered last year and his body dumped in a river near his home.

The population is said to know who the group members are, as they are from the local community, but they do not speak out for fear of reprisals.

One person who spoke to VOA, also on condition of anonymity, said he was assaulted in his own house on the 24th while talking with friends, while another reported that his family had narrowly escaped being assaulted and perhaps even murdered by the group.

Residents are appalled and terrified. Moto-taxi drivers claim to be working under extreme difficulties, one of them telling VOA that he was hailed by members of the group who tried to steal his motorcycle.

Police spokesman in Nampula, Zacarias Nacute, says the police are aware of the existence of the “nacatanas” and are addressing the problem, having recently arrested a gang member. He said the crime-fighting work would continue, and that crime had actually decreased in Nampula as a result of police working with the community.

But police efforts are not enough for residents, who sometimes take the law into their own hands. On Wednesday 27 July, a suspected gang member was killed by residents in one Nampula neighbourhood.

Source: Voa Portugues