At least 22 secondary schools were vandalised and their pupils prevented from taking final exams in Mozambique during demonstrations to contest the election results, the police authorities said, announcing that they had arrested 20 people.
“Today we witnessed very chaotic situations in which individuals invaded schools and jeopardised the future of our children,” denounced the police spokesman Orlando Mudumane, at a press conference in Maputo on Wednesday afternoon to give an update on the three days of demonstrations called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
At least five police stations, including a municipal one, were vandalised and burnt during clashes between demonstrators and the police, a jail was raided and 100 inmates released, as well as the destruction of a district court using fire, the spokesman added.
The police also said that the protesters who stormed schools also stole computer equipment from the educational establishments.
The police authorities, who reported five dead and at least three injured, also denounced attempts by demonstrators to seize firearms from the corporation.
The figures also indicate that at least 20 people were arrested on Wednesday during riots between police and demonstrators, and an investigation is underway to identify those responsible for the vandalism, of which the police claim to have evidence through images circulated on social media.
“The police are warning that they will no longer tolerate violent and subversive acts,” warned Orlando Mudumane, pointing to Maputo city and Maputo province, in the south of the country, as the epicentres of the demonstrations considered illegal by the police authorities.
“We call on you to abandon these acts, especially the blocking of roads, because unfortunately they are conditioning the movement of people,” Mudumane concluded.
Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the election results announced, called for a new phase of protest, from 4 to 11 December, in ‘all the neighbourhoods’ of Mozambique, with a halt to traffic.
At least 76 people have died and another 240 have been shot and injured in Mozambique in 41 days of demonstrations, according to the Mozambican non-governmental organisation Plataforma Eleitoral Decide.
According to the report, which includes data from 21 October to 1 December, there were also “more than 1,700 people injured from various causes” and an estimated “more than 3,000 arrests”.
Lusa
