Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:06:58 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
GRIEF and fear has gripped the people of Sinazongwe as gunmen are reportedly on rampage terrorising the area and killing people suspected to be practising witchcraft with three, including a prominent businessman in Maamba, reportedly shot-dead in the past three days.
On Christmas day, the gunmen shot-dead Dick Siagumpa, a businessman in Maamba, whom they attacked at his residence and killed.
His neighbours are alleged to have ignored the gunshots because they mistook them for fireworks as people celebrated Christmas and were only alerted about Mr. Siagumpa’s fate after his assailants had left.
After assassinating Mr. Siagumpa, the gunmen carried another attack in Ngoma area, not far from Maamba town where they killed one man before killing another person at an area called Bump, along the Batoka-Maamba road, not far from Sinazeze Township the following day.
Area Member of Parliament Gift Sialubalo, who confirmed the three killings to the Daily Nation yesterday, said that the security situation in Sinazongwe had become volatile as gunmen were terrorising people in the area with the number of attacks increasing this month.
Mr. Sialubalo said people were living in fear as the seemingly coordinated but sporadic attacks had increased while the gunmen had not been cornered despite carrying a number of attacks.
“The situation in Sinazongwe is bad. People are now living in fear as they do not know when and where the gunmen will strike from next and this has caused a lot of anxiety and panic among people. According to the information we have gathered so far, the targets are those who are believed to be practising witchcraft or those who have had differences with some people.
“This is an unfortunate situation because you cannot kill someone on suspicion that he is practising witchcraft. At the end of the day, we are losing innocent people on account of being suspected and this is sad. The issue of people being killed at gunpoint started sometime back but it is becoming too much now,” Mr. Sialubalo said.
He called upon people in the area to report any suspects to police to help the law enforcers to track down the assailants who were patronising the area and killing people at will so that the situation could be brought under control.
“Police are on the ground trying to investigate and track down the criminals. They have told me they have suspects and we hope that these will be apprehended soon so that the security situation can be brought under control.
“My only appeal to the people in Sinazongwe is that they should cooperate with the police by offering them tips on people who are carrying out these barbaric attacks because we do not know who will be the next target; maybe it is me and so, before we lose more lives, it is important for us to work together and end this problem,” he said.
