According to the electronic newsheet “Folha de Maputo”, the victim seized in the capital (whose name was not given) is the wife of Paulo Chicupa, the operational director in Mozambique of the British charity Save the Children. Four men attacked and looted Chicupa’s house and then kidnapped the woman
In Matola, a Portuguese woman was kidnapped by three armed men inside the company where she is the financial director. Neither the company nor the woman have been named.
According to the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the kidnapping has been confirmed by the Portuguese Embassy.
In Lisbon, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Communities, Jose Cesario, said the Portuguese authorities “are in permanent contact with the Mozambican government” about the kidnapping.
“We are continuing to transmit to the Mozambican government our concern about the welfare and security of Portuguese citizens in Mozambique”, he said.
But Cesario added “people who know Mozambique know that, in general, the risks are very small”.
Nonetheless, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, alarmed by the wave of kidnappings in Mozambican cities, last week advised Portuguese residents “not to go to isolated places, to avoid routines, including not following the same routes every day, not to display goods of significant monetary value, and to keep relatives or people they can trust informed of their travel arrangements”.
Post published in: Africa News