Mozambique: Former municipal bus workers threaten violence
O País
The Mozambican police have arrested 17 people following serious rioting on Sunday and Monday in the town of Manhica, about 80 kilometres north of Maputo, when an angry mob attempted to lynch a local businessman, accused of trafficking in human body parts.
The crowd went to the home of the alleged trafficker, after rumours had spread that lifeless bodies, missing some of their organs, had been found in various parts of the town.
According to the permanent secretary of the Manhica district government, Jose Lourenco, interviewed over the phone by the Maputo daily “Noticias”, a crowd gathered outside the home of the alleged trafficker on Sunday night. They burnt down the house and set fire to ten vehicles.
The rioting continued into Monday, when the focus switched to the Manhica District Police Command. The crowd demanded that the police hand over the businessman who had fled to the Command in search of protection. They also wanted the release of 11 rioters detained by the police.
The riots brought to a halt traffic along the country’s main north-south highway, which runs through the middle of the town. The protester threw up barricades across the road, and the normal flow of traffic was stopped for several hours. Eventually the police resorted to tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The police moved the alleged trafficker in body parts (who has not been named) to what was described as “a safe place”.
The first 11 people detained were described as ringleaders of the disturbances. On Monday a further six people were arrested in connection with the barricades. The police say they are interrogating those detained to ascertain the degree of responsibility of each of them for the rioting.
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