Too early to claim victory over kidnappers, say Mozambican analysts on SA arrest of ‘alleged kingpin’

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Too early to claim victory over kidnappers, say Mozambican analysts on SA arrest of ‘alleged kingpin’

3:59 CAT | 10 Jan 2023

FILE - Illustrative photo. [File photo: VOA]

Analysts say that it is still too early to claim victory after the detention, in South Africa, of the alleged mastermind of the kidnappings in Mozambique, because this information still lacks substantiation, this type of crime being very sophisticated

Moreover, it may be that, in the face of public pressure, the police want to show some progress.

Esmael Malude Ramos Nangy, thought by the Mozambican authorities to be a leader of a kidnapping gang, was arrested in South Africa last Saturday.

Analyst Tomás Vieira Mário however considers all this just a hypothesis which needs to be brought before the courts. “And we may be claiming victory over false authors,” he adds, because “we don’t have elements to celebrate and say that we have already found the ringleaders, until the court proves that these people are or are not the ones the police say they are.”

Mário also notes that there is public pressure, “and the police may want to show progress; so, we have to be careful until these accusations are formalized and reach the court, and this one says yes, this is so”.

For analyst Fernando Lima, the arrest is evidence that, especially after the death of one of the latest kidnapping victims, caused a great commotion in Mozambican society, the government and the police are under great pressure to respond to the issue of kidnappings .

“It is also a pressure to respond in a very concrete sense, because the police usually present what are commonly known as the “small fish” – the ‘auxiliaries’ of the kidnapping industry – but never the bosses of the organized gangs involved,” Lima stresses.

With regard to Nangy’s arrest, which was abetted by the South African authorities and Interpol, Lima says that more evidence is needed to show that this person in fact ordered the kidnappings and is not just being detained for investigation purposes, “because there are no very concrete details regarding his direct involvement in kidnappings in Mozambique”.

For Lima, international cooperation is fundamental in the fight against kidnapping, “because, clearly, if Mozambique has international support, it can be much more successful in its offensive against the kidnapping industry”.

For his part, analyst Alexandre Chiure considers that, coming at the start of the year, this is good news, saying that the arrest of Nangy in South Africa is proof that those behind the kidnappings are resident outside Mozambican territory, and that there is information indicating that so far $450 million has been paid in ransom, making this a very lucrative industry.

But for Pedro Baltazar, from the Private Security department at the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), this arrest alone does not constitute good news, “because the phenomenon of kidnapping has been negatively impacting the business fabric [here], reducing investment and causing the mass departure of businesspeople who have decided to disinvest in Mozambique.”

By Ramos Miguel

Source: VOA Portugues