UK warns of kidnap risk in Mozambique

Mozambique

In an update to its travel advice page, the UK Foreign Office said there have been “reports of kidnappings for ransom in Mozambique, particularly in the capital Maputo”. 

“Kidnaps are usually financially motivated or criminally driven. While most victims are Mozambican, foreign nationals may also be targeted,” it said, adding that businesspeople may be at increased risk.

The latest reported kidnapping in Maputo occurred on Saturday, when an unnamed 29-year-old man was seized by eight gunmen who fired shots in the street, the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) told Lusa at the time.

According to the source, the kidnapping took place on Joaquim Chissano Avenue, next to one of the victim’s business premises, and four of the kidnappers were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, which they fired into the air.

It was the second kidnapping of a businessperson in Maputo in the past 15 days, and at least the fourth to be made public since the start of the year.

Mozambique’s police force (PRM) has recorded a total of 185 kidnappings and arrested at least 288 people on suspicion of involvement in the crime since 2011, the interior minister said in March.

“Maputo city has the highest incidence of kidnapping, followed by Maputo province and then Sofala, with 103, 41 and 18 cases respectively,” Mozambique’s interior minister, Pascoal Ronda, said on 19 March.

The wave of kidnappings in Mozambique has mainly affected businesspeople and their families, particularly those of Asian descent, which the authorities say requires reflection.

Most kidnappings in Mozambique are planned outside the country, which makes it harder to combat the crime, Attorney General Beatriz Buchili told parliament in April.

She said that most of the masterminds live in South Africa.

Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, has admitted that combating the kidnappings that are plaguing the country, particularly Maputo and above all businesspeople, requires more “proactivity”, including cooperation with the private sector and other countries.

“We are working with countries that have a lot of experience in this area,” Nyusi said in a speech to the 19th Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) conference two weeks ago, on 15 May.

Read Also: Food insecurity affects around a thousand families in southern Mozambique (Portuguese version)

Crédito: Link de origem

- Advertisement -

você pode gostar também Mais do autor

Comentários estão fechados.

HFCU 970×90