More than 50 people in Zambia have been killed in mob violence
in response to a spate of poison spray attacks, President Edgar Lungu
said on Friday, blaming church leaders for encouraging some of the
reprisals.
The chemical attacks began in December and
were initially confined to the mineral-rich copper belt but have since
spread to the capital Lusaka.
Some 26 people have been
arrested under suspicion of being behind the incidents, but police have
still to pinpoint the motive or exact number of victims.
In
a speech to parliament, Lungu said some church and traditional leaders
were inciting mobs to assault people suspected of being involved in the
attacks.
Many Zambians have been angered by what they perceive as an inadequate response by police.
Lungu said after the arrests over the chemical attacks the situation had improved.
However, some people had now targeted rural areas where they
were spreading false information about the attacks to instigate mob
violence, he said.
“We have witnessed merciless
killings. We have equally witnessed merciless reactions,” Lungu said
after parliament observed a moment of silence for the victims.
Lungu
did not name any church leaders who he believed to be responsible for
the reprisals, but pentecostal pastor Jones Chiyana of the Lusaka-based
New Life Assembly Church said anyone involved was not genuine.
“If
a church person is involved, then they are using the church to conceal
their true identity. The church is for justice,” Chiyana told Reuters.
The
president said he was considering establishing a commission of inquiry
to explain the chemical attacks and the mob killings, a move pastor
Chiyana said would be welcome.
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