Several cases of banditry have been recorded in recent days in the Peace 2 district in the commune of Lukuga in Kalemie. The population accuses certain men in uniform who guard private residences of being the basis of this insecurity. In response, the commander of military operations Usalama of the 22nd rapid reaction brigade asks the population to collaborate and trust the FARDC.
According to the head of the avenue at the Peace District 2, the soldiers who guard certain residences are bothering the population. They steal the property of peaceful citizens and do not hesitate to shoot bullets.
Faced with this insecurity, residents are demanding the departure of men in uniform from the private residences they guard.
Joseph Rashidi, an avenue manager in this neighborhood, testifies:
“Every night we receive reports that someone has been robbed or shot. 3 days ago around 9 p.m., a young man narrowly avoided being shot by an unknown person. A young woman of a friend “I also avoided a bullet the day before yesterday. Today night around 10 p.m., a man was shot in the foot. We demand that these soldiers be removed from our neighborhood.”
After having got hold of implicated FARDC elements, the commander of Usalama military operations of the 22nd brigade, General Duniya Kashindi, calls on the population to calm down and to collaborate instead with the FARDC:
“There are soldiers who are being transferred to the prosecutor’s office today because of the bullets that were fired last night. They were searched for and then arrested. In the town of Kalemie, the bullets can no longer ring out. We are going to do everything do, we are your sentries. The population must also collaborate with the security services.”