A
supporter of elected President Denis Sassou Nguesso waits at a sports
field ahead of a party organised to celebrate his re-election in
Brazzaville on March 24, 2016
EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP/Getty Images
The town of Madingou in the Republic of the Congo, also known as
Congo-Brazzaville, recently became the frontlines of confrontations
between security forces and protesters who set a police station ablaze
in anger over the death of a teenager.
Tensions had been running high in the Central African nation, where simmering anger against President Denis Sassou Nguesso's
re-election seems to be boiling over, at times inflamed by powerful
propaganda campaigns masterminded by Sassou Nguesso's Congolese Party of
Labour (PCT) and the opposition.
Confrontations in Madingou,
capital city of the southern Bouenza Region, followed the death of
13-year-old Japhet Nguembo, who was allegedly shot by a security officer
near the town's station on 26 April. According to local sources, the
teenager later died from his injuries.
What happened next has been the subject of much speculation,
misinformation and fiction. There were reports the army had 'arrested
and killed youths' following the arson. Others stated that the
President's militia had been deployed to the town. Local media also
reported government helicopters had bombarded the area.
'Surprised' to read reports of widespread violence
However, IBTimes UK spoke to a
number of trusted sources, who confirmed there had been no violent
activity besides the fact the policeman shot at the teenager, and the
arson.
"I saw the body of the little one who was shot. The bullet
entered the femur and came out of the penis area," a Madingou resident,
Eudes (not real name), said over the phone.
"After the officer shot, people went towards the police
station and set fire to the commissioner's office. The local authorities
informed the parents after army officers arrested the policeman. After
that, things quietened down."
The young man said he was "surprised" to read reports
of widespread violence. "The same day after the police station was set
ablaze, people continued to go to the local market (situated near the
police station), people continued to go about their business. The
military did not intervene, and there certainly was no bombardments,
unlike what media reports stated."
'No threat against any one', says resident
Another male source, an acquittance of the victim's father
who wished to remain anonymous, dismissed claims that youths had called
for "vengeance" against the authorities. "I have been to the vigil every
night and it is calm. No military officers have been dispatched to the
area, it is just as usual, parents get together during the vigil, sing
religious songs. No threat against anyone."
A number of commentators had warned the teenager's death may be used for political point-scoring by the opposition, who have accused the government of targeted killings, with an ex-government minister, Claudine Munari, describing the confirmed bombing of the department of Pool as "genocide". However, other observers said the incident was not politically-motivated.
"This is purely media propaganda. I have friends who called
me after they read the reports that our town, Madingo, had been
bombarded. They asked me where I had fled and hidden. I used FaceTime (a
video calling service on mobile phones) to show them there was
nothing," the source said.
Residents firmly condemned Nguembo's death.
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