Residents of Ngagara (Q2) neighborhood, Ngagara Zone, north of Bujumbura are gripped by fear. They report that machete-armed people attacked this neighborhood three times within a week. They demand that the police strengthen security.
Ngagara Zone
“Yesterday night, around 2 am, I heard my neighbors crying loudly calling for help. Then I woke up to intervene. When I went out of my house, one of the criminals wounded me on the head with the machete, “tells the victim.
He says he saw six people armed with machetes running away. “They were trying to leave the quarter since many people had come out of their homes to see what was happening,” he says.
These machete-armed thieves had attacked a 76-year-old woman living in the same neighborhood. They have stolen many household items including the mattress she was sleeping on. “We have been able to recover the old woman’s mattress,” says the victim adding that it’s the third time the same criminals attack that area during the same week.
“The thieves beat me a metal on the back and I remained silent. They took everything they wanted, “said the old woman whose house was looted. She says the thieves had told him that if she screamed, they would hurt him.
Jacqueline Nsabimana, also resident of Ngagara, indicates that such armed robberies are spreading in this neighborhood. For her, they are not thieves, they are rather killers. “They are armed with machetes, besides looting our homes, they can kill us too,” she says. Ngagara people demand that their security be strengthened.
Imelde Ndikuriyo the chief of Ngagara Zone says she will hold meetings with the residents and their representatives from all Ngagara neighborhoods to discuss strategies to adopt in order to enhance their safety. In the meantime, she calls on the population to collaborate with local authorities and security agents to prevent these thieves from breaking into their houses.
Such machete-armed thieves were reported last month in Kanyosha Zone, in southern Bujumbura.
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