Africa-Press – Eswatini. After all has been said and done, the air has been cleared following the shocking assault of a soldier outside Mbutfu Army Camp last weekend.
Initial suggestions were that the soldier in question may have been assaulted by residents during a drinking spree, but this has turned out to be inaccurate and misleading. It has since been confirmed that the residents are being falsely accused of this act after the soldier revealed four of his colleagues as being behind the assault which took place last week Saturday. As a result, a serious stand-off has erupted between soldiers at Mbutfu Army Camp and residents in the area.
The soldier in question is known to this publication, but has asked to remain anonymous until he has fully recovered. The soldier suffered serious body injuries and had to be admitted to Manzini Clinic before being transferred to the Mbabane Government Hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment.
Angered
Investigations by this publication revealed that the residents were angered by that they were allegedly accused of the incident by senior army officials, when according to them, the soldier in question was allegedly assaulted by four of his colleagues from the camp during an alleged drinking spree.
When this publication paid a visit to Mbutfu on Tuesday afternoon, close to 100 residents were found gathered outside the army camp demanding to see the captain over the incident. They accused the captain of being behind the assault of the soldier in question by his colleagues. Narrating the incident, a resident said trouble started when they returned from a soccer match at Nsoko, which is situated a few kilometres from the army camp.
Assaulted
“When we returned from Nsoko, we were with the soldier who was assaulted as he is also a resident of the area besides being in the army. We went to the butchery outside the army camp, where we found two soldiers and some residents enjoying alcoholic beverages.“We joined them and a few minutes later, there was a heated exchange of words between the two soldiers we found at the butchery,” a resident alleged. Adding, he said: “In the middle of that squabble, one of the soldiers slapped the other in the face. “The soldier who was with us tried to intervene as he is senior to both soldiers in terms of rank at the camp.
Slapping
“However, the soldier who had slapped the other reacted by also slapping the soldier who was trying to intervene. That is where the trouble started.”
According to the resident, the second soldier, who was slapped did not take kindly to the junior soldier’s act and reiterated. “Seeing that the soldier he had slapped was a senior, the junior soldier left the drinking spot to report the incident to his superiors at the camp. “We are told that he claimed to be the victim of the assault and accused us of backing the soldier who was eventually hospitalised.
“A few minutes later, a group of soldiers emerged from the camp and came to where we were. Without saying a word, they started assaulting the soldier who was with us,” the resident said. He alleged that after seeing that their soldier friend was on the receiving end of the beating from his other colleagues, residents decided to intervene. “After realising that we were protecting him, they returned to the army camp and we thought all was well. Unbeknown to us, the soldiers were planning another attack on him.
Ambush
“He (soldier’s friend) then headed to his homestead as he does not stay within the camp. We later got information that four soldiers used a secret route outside the camp to ambush him on his way home,” he alleged. The resident also claimed that after a while, they started getting worried after getting wind of the fact that their soldier friend had not reached home. “We called his wife who confirmed that her husband had not reached home. That is when we got worried and when we tried to go to his house, we were blocked by a group of soldiers who were armed. We then decided to use an alternative route and during that moment, we gathered that an army van had fetched him from where he had been assaulted and took him to Matsanjeni Health Centre.”
The resident further revealed that the residents decided to rush to the health centre, where they discovered that the assaulted soldier was not receiving medical attention due to shortage of drugs. “When we got to the health centre, we found soldiers there keeping an eye on him. The nurses first told us that he was receiving treatment but when we asked to see him, the soldiers refused. We then forced our way into where he was kept. The bed he was using had no mattress. The resident said it was at this point that they decided to organise transport to take him to Manzini Clinic and they were successful.
Admitted
“We hired a van that took him to Manzini Clinic, where he was admitted. We were later informed that he had been transferred to Mbabane Government Hospital,” the resident said. He said the residents were then angered by the fact that they were apparently being accused of beating up the soldier. “We then decided to come to the army camp to seek clarity from the captain. We were able to speak to him before he was transferred to Manzini Clinic and he revealed four names of the soldiers who beat him up. We want the soldiers who beat him up to take responsibility for their actions and that is the reason we are camping outside the camp,” said the resident who asked to remain anonymous.
Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) Public Relations Officer Leutenant Tengetile Khumalo said the matter had not been reported to her office.
“What you are asking me about is news to me as it has not reached my office. I will investigate this matter and come back to you,” she briefly stated. She had not given her comment by 9.30pm yesterday. The assaulted soldier’s wife, interviewed from Mbabane Government Hospital, also alleged that her husband was beaten up by her fellow colleagues at the army camp not residents. “The residents are being truthful in that my husband was beaten up by other soldiers, that is what he also told me.
Recover
“For now, please allow my husband to recover and then maybe we can then speak about this issue as you can see he is in bad shape,” the wife said.
She further confirmed that they were forced to transfer her husband to Mbabane Government Hospital due to financial challenges. “We incurred high medical costs at Manzini Clinic and we could not afford to keep him there any longer,” she said. Efforts to get a comment from the Mbutfu Army camp captain failed at the time of compiling this report as he was said to have been held up in Matsapha.
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