Mbabane: Dagga raid by the police turned ugly as police clash with residents.
In a rare incident, residents at Nedso, in the Shiselweni region in Nhlangano witnessed a violent clash as police were embroiled in a furious confrontation with the Mpanza family.
Eswatini Police Service(REPS) and Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force(UEDF) are in loggerheads with Mpanza family from Nhlangano, Nedso which has led to a nasty clash, residents assaulted, guns drawn, children injured.
Onlookers claim that they witness a shocking incident as police had to allegedly fire gunshots and teargas to comprehend the situation.
In a video which this publication has seen police are seen beating civilians, a female police officer is heard insulting the one who was taking the video and kick another resident who came through, meanwhile, another cop is seen drawing a gun.
Independent News has established that police have been terrorizing and intimidating residents during the raid of dagga. The area is widely known for the growing of dagga in the Shiselweni region.
Sources close to the matter revealed that the police have been lately coming to the area. On May 5 things went ugly as residents were being assaulted by the security personnel.
A child is said to have been caught in the crossfire during the clash was rushed to the hospital. The mother of the child who chose to comment on the condition of an anonymous state that her child inhaled the smoke of the tear gas that was fired yesterday.
One of the aggrieved residents who spoke to this publication disclosed that the police have been harassing them ever since allegedly calling them “drug-dealers”.
He explained that they have reported the harassment to Nhlangano Police Station Commander who promised them that she will solve the issue amicably. However, her words proved futile as more cops were deployed to the area and this time they came out more aggressive than before. “The the situation is terrible as the cops are now literally assaulting us”
The residents further went into lamenting on the destruction of their property by the police. He said that the police destroyed their car’s lights, punched wheels.
Another thorn in the flesh for the residents is that every time the police come to raid, they always fire gunshots before raiding and that causes fear to their kids and elders.
When sought for comment, Police Communications Officer Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the incident that took place on May 5. Mnguni revealed that what led to this nasty collision is that the residents were fighting the police for raiding their homes, she narrated that police were doing their work, unfortunately, some people got hurt.
She said it was reported to them as Police that there was a crime going on in that area thus the raid.
Mnguniexplained that the police have been on to the Mpanza homestead after they have been informed to be in possession of dagga and so they went to raid.
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