So, like, three people from the same fam were, like, brutally shot by, like, presumed armed bandits on Sunday night, around 1 am, in Bujovu neighborhood, Karisimbi commune. According to a neighbor who, like, saw everything go down, the attackers stormed into the victims’ house and started shooting, killing the dad, his son, and another young dude who was also part of the fam. The criminals were, like, caught shortly after by an M23 patrol, who were, like, alerted by the residents’ screams. In the ambush that followed, three of the presumed bandits were shot down by the armed peeps, as per local sources.
“While we were hearing lots of gunshots, unfortunately, some bandits, like, burst into my neighbor’s house. They then shot the peeps inside, and the dad, his lil bro, and his son, like, died instantly. We called for help, but, like, unfortunately, the intervention took a while to come. A few minutes later, as the bandits were trying to flee, the M23 soldiers, like, swooped in. They shot the bandits from behind the SAFRICAS factory fence. This morning, we found the bandits’ bodies. There were, like, three of them. We, like, sincerely ask the new authorities to help us out. It’s, like, hard to sleep at night in Bujovu ’cause of the insecurity. Today, it’s my neighbor and his fam who were killed. Tomorrow, it could be me and my fam. The authorities, like, really need to take action to ensure our safety, we’re, like, suffering a lot,” said the witness contacted by ACTUALITÉ.CD this morning.
This tragedy is, like, unfortunately not an isolated case. On the same night, other criminal acts went down in various Goma neighborhoods. In Kasika, heavily armed dudes, like, looted several houses, taking phones, money, and valuables. A dad was allegedly violently attacked. In Ndosho, around 10 pm, a store was robbed. The crooks stole cash, merch, multiple phones, and even a motorcycle. In Kyeshero, near the Masisi parking lot, several homes were, like, broken into without any reported intervention.
Since the start of the week, over ten peeps have, like, died in similar circumstances. During the night of April 30 to May 1, a civilian was killed, and three presumed thieves were lynched and burnt alive by the angry population, still in Ndosho.
In the face of this wave of violence, the peeps in Goma are, like, getting more and more angry and are calling out the authorities’ inaction. The arrival of the M23-AFC armed group in Goma last January seems to have made things worse. Over 4,000 escaped inmates from Munzenze prison are still on the run in the city, ramping up the crime. Since then, disappearances, robberies, and murders have been on the rise, plunging the peeps into a climate of distrust and fear.
So, like, up to now, the new authorities haven’t, like, really done much to curb this growing insecurity. It’s, like, a pretty dire situation here in Goma, and the peeps are, like, feeling pretty helpless. Like, not really sure why this matters, but it’s, like, a big deal for the locals who are just trying to live their lives peacefully, you know?
Josué Mutanava, in Goma, like, wrote this article.
