A tanker belonging to Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL) was ambushed before being set on fire by people wearing military attire in Venduzi, Mozambique on Wednesday.
The tanker was carrying 36 litres of petrol worth K23 million.
According to Mwanza Immigration Office’s spokesperson, Pasqually Zulu, the driver of the tanker, Haswel Sekani, aged 39 years, who arrived in the country yesterday afternoon, narrated that his and six other vehicles that were travelling from Beira were stopped by a group of uniformed and armed people around 11 o’clock in the morning.
“According to the driver who came to us looking traumatised, he was ordered to disembark and follow the men into the bush where other 20 people were held hostage. After an hour all the trucks were set ablaze and they were told to leave upon seeing a helicopter approaching the area where they were held.
“Some of the vehicles burnt had Mozambican and Zimbabwean registration numbers. Among the vehicles there were burnt to ashes was a JJ truck that carried two new land cruisers and a coaster which were to be delivered to Malawi,” stated Zulu.
General Manager of PIL, Enwell Kadango, bemoaned the incident and said they are hoping that the Government of Malawi will hold talks with Mozambique to provide security along the routes.
“This is a setback for us because we have lost some millions. We are still liaising with the Government of Malawi if they can help us tightening security so that we can have an escort of army or police as you know this is the route we use on daily basis.
“We have 20 to 50 tankers passing through this route daily hence there is a need to ensure that these trucks are secured. Yesterday security officers did a good job after the incident by stopping all the vehicles passing through Venduzi to sort things out,” stated Kadango.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Rejoice Shumba said the ministry is aware of the incident but was coy to say what action government will take after the incident.
“Through the Embassy and Consulate in Maputo and Tete respectively, the Ministry is gathering as much information as possible to determine what course of actions should be undertaken by the Malawi Government based on need. Until such reports are given, it is not possible at this stage to be definitive as to what the Ministry will be doing. Suffice to say that, government will undertake the necessary action reminiscent of the need.
“The Government of the Republic of Mozambique has been providing police escort to trucks travelling through Mozambique to ensure security of these trucks. We will therefore need to know what exactly happened in this particular case and determine the next course of action. You are aware, that the security by the Mozambican Government was being provided at the request of the Malawi Government,” Shumba said.
This attack on Malawians by Mozambicans follows another one which saw four men, who were among 24 Malawians travelling to South Africa on April 23, shot dead in Mozambique.
Leave a Reply