According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than a hundred people were arrested this Sunday in Saurimo, the capital of the province of Lunda Sur, when they tried to march towards the city center and rebelled against the authorities who tried to stop them.
The movement began at 5:30 a.m. when an unspecified number of men, women and children left the Kandembe area for the city center, disrupting public order, the provincial delegation of the Ministry of Interior (Minint) said in a statement. .
According to police, the march was ordered to stop, but protesters rose up, “organizing a riot and disorder, throwing stones, sticks, bottles and other blunt objects,” breaking the windows of two patrol cars.
The protesters were eventually dispersed using tear gas and other non-lethal means, with 132 people, of whom 92 were aged 18 to 78, and 45 women aged 19 to 58, arrested for any injuries not reported.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs “strongly” condemned the behavior of some citizens who tried to “brutally resist the forces of order” and called on the population to remain calm as the situation was under control.
Videos circulating on Facebook showed footage of riots and disturbances on the streets of Saurimo, as well as gas grenades being fired as police intervened.
The reasons for the march were not stated in the statement by the Angolan authorities.
However, the unrest may be related to the self-proclaimed “Sociological Legal Manifesto of the Lundes People”, led by Jota Malaquito, which defends the autonomy of the Lunda-Chokwe region in Angola and tries to promote the act of declaring autonomy for this territory.
Images circulating on social media showed an independence flag being raised, followed by an attempted march that was stopped by police.
“The MPLA police, fully armed, invaded the MJSPL delegations to intimidate the raising of our old Lunda Chokwe State flag, here is evidence of the use of armed means against unarmed people. There were (sic) several injuries, arrests, and home invasions reported,” MJSPL said on its Facebook page.
Lunda Sul is one of the main diamond producing provinces and the second largest source of wealth in Angola.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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