MBABANE: Top police officers led by Senior Superintendent Clement Sihlongonyane are now providing security to a suspect implicated in the disappearance of two minor children aged two(2) years who went missing during the recently held Incwala ritual ceremony.
Residents of Buseleni under Nkwene Inkhundla were surprised after senior police officers were deployed to warn them against ‘touching’ the suspect who was later assisted by the police to escape to South Africa for safety.
Vulimpompi Nhleko, the Nkwene Inkhundla Member of Parliament(MP) told this Swaziland News that residents of the area were surprised to see police officers providing high security to the home of the suspect instead of arresting him.
“We are surprised because, during the search, the police were using their dogs to trace the movements and whereabouts of the kids, they told us that the dogs will definitely identify the whereabouts of the children and they start their investigations from there. The dogs went straight to the Ngwenya homestead and one woman of the area later confessed that she was instructed to lure the kids with sweets and then hand them over to the suspect. However, instead of arresting the suspect, the police provided him with security, we are now told that he has been assisted to skip to Durban, South Africa. The residents are very angry about this because they don’t understand what is happening and why all of a sudden, the suspect and his home are now receiving police protection”,said the MP
Efforts to reach Phindile Vilakati, the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) Spokesperson proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
But Senior Superintendent Clement Sihlongonyane told the Times of Eswatini that they provided security to the suspect after noting that the residents of the area wanted to attack the family.
“We will then shift our focus from finding the missing children to investigating and arresting the people who committed the crime”, said the Senior Superintendent.
It has been reported that more people went missing in Eswatini allegedly for ritual purposes and the media has been shifting the blame to aspiring Members of Parliament(MPs), however, this time around, there was no mentioning of MPs as Parliamentary elections are expected to be held two years from now.
Reached for comments Sibongile Mazibuko, the President of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress(NNLC) said the behavior of the police who are now providing security to the home of the suspect suggests that the children were murdered for ritual purposes during the Incwala ceremony.
“The behavior of the police who are agents of the State in such ritual murders suggests that the children were murdered for ritual purposes and Incwala is the only ceremony that was conducted at the time of their disappearance. This behavior is not new, another 12 year-old was discovered with missing body parts at Nkoyoyo forest, the eye witness who reported the discovery to the police was threatened by the same law enforcement agency and asked to explain what he he was really doing in the forest that led to discovery of the body. We want justice for the children, if this is not linked to those in power, why are the police providing security to the home of the suspect?” said the NNLC President.
Two minor children went missing during Incwala ritual ceremony.