Maputo, 27 Dec (AIM) – Members of the Mozambican police (PRM) shot dead a 24 year old motor-cycle taxi driver named Castigo Samuel, in the central city of Chimoio, merely because he did not obey a police command to stop.
One of Samuel’s colleagues, cited by the independent television station, STV, and who requested anonymity, said “there were police agents on patrol. They were ordering motorbikes to stop, and demanding to see their drivers’ documents. During this action, the police ordered the young man to stop. They ended up shooting him, and he lost his life in the provincial hospital”.
The spokesperson for the Manica Provincial Police Command, Mateus Mindu, confirmed the shooting, and said that Samuel had been mistaken for a member of a gang who had robbed a nearby home earlier in the day, and who were using a motorbike.
“We received a denunciation of a group that had just carried out a robbery”, said Mindu. “They were associated with a group travelling on a motorbike who had stolen property such as wallets and cell phones in Trangapasso neighbourhood”.
Mindu said the provincial command has set up a team to establish the truth of the incident.
(AIM)
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