Eleven houses burned down in Ituri in one week
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
More than ten houses, including four during the night of 1 to 2 November, were burned down in one week in Ddesa, Djugu territory, Ituri. The Bahema Nord civil society organisation is calling for investigations and has raised the possibility of an organised criminal network, according to its coordinator Charité Banza Bavi.
Eleven houses were burned down in one week in the village of Ddesa, in the Buko groupement, in the Bahema Nord chieftaincy, in Djugu territory, Ituri. Four homes burned during the night of 1 to 2 November, after seven others were destroyed a week earlier, according to Charité Banza Bavi, coordinator of the Bahema Nord civil society organisation, quoted by Actualité.cd.
The perpetrators of the night-time fires have not been identified. Charité Banza Bavi said their modus operandi did not match that usually attributed to the CODECO militia and raised the possibility of an organised criminal network seeking to drive away residents who had returned to their villages in order to facilitate looting.
Civil society is calling on local chiefs to live alongside their constituents to oversee community vigilance. It is also demanding that the 3202nd FARDC Regiment and Blukwa police strengthen night patrols, as well as a joint investigation by the security forces and local authorities.
The fires occurred as CODECO, a militia active in Ituri, had attacked three villages and displaced families on 26 October. The CODECO attack on three villages had already highlighted the fragility of the security situation in the province.
