UNRULY VILLAGERS HIJACK BUS
ABOUT 30 people have been arrested in Mufumbwe for holding captive a Power Tools bus crew and passengers, heading to Zambezi. Some villagers have apparently mobilised themselves and were patrolling the area under the pretext of hunting down the perpetrators of gassing. In the process, they are engaging in illegal activities such as mounting roadblocks and intimidating bus crews along with their passengers. North-western province commissioner of police, Hudson Namachila, said the unruly local people blocked the road using stones and logs on Sunday and ‘impounded’ the bus after beating up the driver and conductor. The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday between Mufumbwe and Manyinga districts. e said officers from Mufumbwe could not contain the situation until they called for reinforcement from Zambezi and Solwezi respectively. He said the suspects were targeting big buses from whose drivers, conductor and passengers they were extorting money. Mr Namachila said the villagers, with criminal intent, would intimidate and damage the bus. “The unruly villagers have timed the movement of such buses which they are ambushing along the way in the name of protecting themselves against people who are spraying unknown gases in their homes,” he said. He said the bus has since been released though the driver and his assistant were badly bitten by the people. Mr Namachila has since warned that police would not tolerate lawlessness to reign in the province and that officers would employ force enough to bring sanity in all affected areas. He implored all community leaders to restrain their people from attempting to make the country ungovernable. “I also wish to urge the general public to entrust the security of this nation to police and other agents of state security. This is because security is a sensitive matter, which when left in untrained hands can elude us for many years to come,” he added