Three detained after Portuguese-Mozambican woman rescued from captivity in Maputo

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Three detained after Portuguese-Mozambican woman rescued from captivity in Maputo

6:41 CAT | 22 Dec 2023

The victim was rescued from a residence in Bairro Liberdade in Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, with two guards who had allegedly been watching her since November 1st arrested at the scene. [Photo: Lusa]

Mozambican police on Thursday morning arrested three people involved in the kidnapping of a 26-year-old Portuguese-Mozambican woman held in captivity for 50 days, and are looking for a fourth element considered a key player in this and other cases.

“We have information about another individual who is key to clarifying this kidnapping case. We are working on it and believe that any moment can bring results,” National Security Service spokesperson Hilário Lole told journalists yesterday.

The victim was kidnapped outside her house in the centre of Maputo on November 1st by three armed men, with the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) having previously confirmed that it was monitoring the case.

“This operation was not a paid ransom, but rather a rescue thanks to Sernic, in collaboration with other forces (…) There was no need to pay an amount to rescue this victim,” Lole added.

The victim was rescued from a residence in Bairro Liberdade in Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, with two guards who had allegedly been watching her since November 1st arrested at the scene.

Hilário Lole clarified to journalists that information received had led to the identification of her place of captivity, and the force went ahead with the rescue operation in the early morning .

“She will be taken to medical care to assess her current state of health in depth. It was also possible to neutralize a total of two individuals on site. Subsequent steps saw the neutralisation of an third member of the gang,” he added.

Sernickdlusa

According to Sernic, efforts are still underway to try to identify further members of the gang, which is suspected of being behind other kidnappings in the country.

“Most of the cases are perpetrated by the same individuals, so we believe that these steps will give us information about other kidnapped victims still held captive,” he also said.

Two victim still in captivity

According to Sernic, there have already been six cases of kidnapping in Maputo, “which were executed”, and another five attempts, frustrated due to the intervention of the police or the public.

“Unfortunately, we have two victims still in captivity,” Lole concluded.

Maputo has for a few months now been experiencing a new wave of kidnappings, especially of businesspeople, with two Portuguese-Mozambicans targeted since November and suspicions of the involvement of agents linked to the police investigation in this type of crime.

The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, acknowledged in parliament Wednesday that, despite improvements in the fight against crime, concern about kidnapping remained.

“Despite these advances, cases of kidnapping continue to worry us, even with a reduction in six, compared to 12 cases registered in the same period of 2022,” the head of state said in his annual state-of-the-nation speech in the Assembly of the Republic.

“And, of these cases, four linked to the crime of kidnapping were clarified, 31 individuals were arrested, the same ones involved in previous kidnappings, and a principal was also arrested in the Republic of South Africa, within the scope of judicial cooperation between the authorities of the two countries,” President Nyusi added.

The Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), the largest employers’ association in the country, defended at the beginning of November, in the face of this new wave of cases, “more severe” prison sentences against kidnappers and without the possibility of paying bail to stop these crimes.

Almost 400 people signed an online petition in the first 24 hours calling for the “unconditional” release of Mozambican and Portuguese-Mozambican kidnap victims held in Mozambique, and against the wave of kidnappings in the country.

“Kidnapping is a heinous crime that has ravaged Mozambican society for several years. It is urgent for Mozambican society to rise up against what is happening in the country,” the online petition “Against kidnappings in Mozambique” created on Tuesday reads.

Source: Lusa