Africa-Press – Mozambique. A young man was detained by the military in Pemba’s Alto Gingone neighbourhood last weekend after being accused by his mother-in-law of belonging to the insurgents terrorist group, which the population calls the ‘ Al-Shabaab’ [the Young Ones – “mashababos”].
The young man in question is one of those displaced from the district of Palma, and used to work for a company subcontracted to Total. He was among a group of workers evacuated from Palma to Pemba who never returned to their areas of origin because of the worsening security situation.
Since he could not return to Palma, the young man sent money to his wife and mother-in-law to cover the expense of travelling to Pemba. At that time, the young man had had no contact with own his mother, who, in the meantime, had fled following the attacks of the 24th of March.
The man’s wife and mother-in-law stayed at the house of a relative in Pemba, where the young man would later join them. However, during one of his walks, he was reunited with his mother, and moved in with her in the Chuiba neighbourhood so as to relieve the pressure on the family house where his wife was staying, although he continued to frequent this other house regularly.
But, last Saturday, while making his routine visit to the family, he was expelled by his mother-in-law, for no apparent reason.
The mother-in-law, in fact, precipitately announced that he was an insurgent, that he knew everything that was going on in the conflict zone. His detention followed soon thereafter.
But certain signs indicate a different story. It is said that there is another man, who fell in love with the lady’s daughter (in this case, the wife of the young man), whom he wishes to marry. This gentleman is apparently well off, both financially and otherwise, and has promised to take the girl’s family to live in Pemba.
IDPs in Pemba often complain of abuses committed by the authorities, supposedly justified by their lack of personal documentation, though many have lost such documents while fleeing attacks in their areas.
