Man found with explosives appears in court
MBABANE – The man who was found with two explosives, live bullets and an Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) uniform appeared at the High Court for a remand hearing on Thursday.
His next remand is on November 17, 2022.
He was arrested on Tuesday morning at Mbhuleni in Matsapha.
On the day of his arrest, police officers from Lukhozi Serious Crimes Unit and those from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrived at the house where the suspect resided at Mbhuleni around 6am.
The presence of the heavily armed police officers drew the attention of neighbours who came out of their houses to observe what was happening.
They gathered at the entrance of the homestead where the suspect resided.
Some of the neighbours said the contingent of police officers arrived in two vehicles.
The onlookers told this publication that when the police officers first arrived, they were in the company of a person who was not armed and did not wear a bulletproof vest.
BYSTANDERS
The bystanders said thereafter, the police vehicles left the premises.
They said when the police vehicles left, some police officers remained were positioned strategically.
The eyewitnesses stated that when some of the police officers left, the suspect was overheard speaking on his mobile phone while still inside his house.
The witnesses said when the police vehicle returned around 7am, it was being followed by a midibus with a trailer from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) – Ordinance Disposal Unit.
The witnesses said this time when the police arrived at the residence, where the suspect leased a flat, they went to his door and knocked. They said the suspect refused to open and continued to sit inside his house.
The onlookers claimed that the law enforcers also sought the intervention of the suspect’s landlord to negotiate with him to open the door.
However, this effort by the police officers, according to the witnesses, failed to get the suspect to surrender himself.
The eyewitnesses said this back and forth lasted for over an hour. They said the police officers, some of whom were constantly on their mobile phones, decided to leave the premises.
According to the bystanders, just before 9am, the police officers returned with a female acquaintance of the suspect who, according to the witnesses account, proceeded to use her door key to gain entry into the house.
The witnesses said it was then that the police officers gained entry into the house. They said the police questioned the suspect.
“As they questioned him, they found two bombs, lots of live ammunition, diaries with details of meetings and the army uniform,” one of the witnesses said.
The bystanders said they heard the police saying that a lot of traditional medicine was found inside the house and regalia of one of the political parties in the country.
The eyewitnesses said they were shocked as one of the police officers informed them that everyone at Mbhuleni would have died if one of the explosives had been ignited. They said this shocked them as it was something they did not suspect could be in the area.