Good afternoon. A group of people is accused of robbing a village in Cabo Delgado province’s Metuge district last week, posing as members of the Islamic State-backed in insurgency when in fact they were just particularly violent robbers (allegedly cutting off a woman’s finger).
While Zitamar News has not yet confirmed this story from its own sources, it is consistent with the situation in the war-torn parts of northern Mozambique, where robbery and extortion is carried on in places which, due to insurgent movements, are perceived to be free from government control. In Niassa province last week, another group also posing as insurgents attacked an unlicensed mining camp, reportedly killing a man and wounding others. Similarly, during the Mozambican civil war of the 1970s and 80s, some people posing as guerrillas from the paramilitary group Renamo would stop traffic on the roads to demand money from passing drivers.
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Essentially, where the state is thought to be absent, there are always people ready to take advantage by robbing their fellow citizens. On a more petty scale, when floods deposit mud and sand on the roads, youngsters will clear the roads and then demand payment from passing traffic for their work, throwing stones if they do not get paid.
