By Estacio Valoi
Increased violence against the population perpetrated by security forces protecting the Gemfields/MRM mining concession in the district of Montepuez has resulted in three deaths.
The frustrated population, tired of seeing their family members, friends, cousins, and miners in general being injured, shot dead, pushed into graves, detained, and beaten without assistance, today, the 15th, around 11 a.m., after a young miner from the village of Ntseue was fatally shot by the military and Rapid Intervention Unit protecting the mining company, the population left the village of Ntseue with the body of the deceased and went to leave it at the mining company’s offices.
“The other two dead are members of the police who were at the gate where the community members intended to pass, but they tried to prevent the angry crowd from passing,” according to witnesses at the scene who spoke to Moz24h today.
“A miner from the village of Ntseue was fatally shot by the police and military. There was confusion. When the miner was shot, other fellow miners took the body to the village of Ntseue. In turn, the people of Ntseue took the body to the gate at the entrance to the mine, to the camp at the center, inside, not to the gate here in front. When they arrived at the gate, they found two police officers who were at the gate acting as security guards. So the people, nervous and tired of the security guards killing people, decided to take matters into their own hands and killed two police officers. So there were three dead, one civilian and two police officers shot by the people, who took their weapons and fired at them. When the people killed these two police officers, they took the weapons to the chief of the village of Nsteue, and at the same time, the panicked population began to flee from one side to the other, and the police arrived and recovered the weapons. The three bodies were placed in the mine’s ambulance and taken to the morgue of the Montepuez district hospital. Since 11 a.m. this morning, nothing pleasant has been happening in the village of Ntseue. “
Moz24h contacted Tome Patrício, the chief of the village of Muaja, who confirmed what had happened. “They are killing many people in the bush,” Patrício added.
“It was 4:30 a.m. when I went to the farm at 4:30 a.m. Behind me, while I was on the farm, members of the police entered the village and said they were looking for foreigners. First, they caught one, handcuffed him, and the population asked why they were handcuffing him, but then the police took off his handcuffs. Then they started chasing foreigners in the village, and the population didn’t like it. The police started shooting and killed a young man from the village named Juma Herculano, 25 years old. The police, who had their vehicle hidden in the bush, then left here in a hurry, got into the car and drove away. In their anger, the population killed the police officers, and the company took the bodies, which are still in Montepuez. The population is asking for his body so they can bury him. Right now, we are waiting for the district police commander, who said he will provide a vehicle to bring our young man’s body here. Here, in the bush, the mine security guards are killing a lot of people, and violence has increased a lot,” said Patrício (Moz24h).
