BUJUMBURA May 11th (ABP) – The Ministry of Public Security and Disaster Management denied on Wednesday through its spokesperson, Commissioner Pierre Nkwirikiye, rumors of the existence of people who kidnap children for superstitious purposes, it was disclosed during a press briefing.
The perpetrators of these rumors that already create a feeling of fear among the people, said the commissioner, sometimes illustrate them with pictures of a woman who could be of Congolese nationality and who is responsible for this network of criminals. Sometimes, he continued, they mount pictures of dead children who were murdered after being kidnapped, and even some of whom have parts of their bodies amputated.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security regrets that those rumors have already created, in some, criminal behavior. They were already starting to stop vehicles, believing that they were carrying people suspected of kidnapping children. Those cases have already occurred in the urban zones of Buterere and Ngagara in Ntahangwa commune. Commissioner Nkurikiye therefore pointed out that the police have not yet found a single case of a kidnapped child for such purposes, stating instead that those are rumors spread by malicious people who want to disrupt the peace of mind. Of the people during this campaign period for the constitutional referendum.
The Burundi National Police, he said, is used to such rumors during the election period. He returned to rumors that were broadcast in 2010 and 2015 to spread fear among the people. The Ministry of Public Security, however, urges parents to take care of their children, not to leave them to themselves and to alert, as soon as possible, Joint Security Committees and the police, whenever there is a presence of elements likely to disturb the security in their zone.
