|
Now FFU accused of brutality
2005-10-03 07:39:58
By Emmanuel Kihaule
Officers from the crack Field Force Unit mercilessly clobbered villagers in Boko, Dar es Salaam, after they resisted an attempt to demolish their houses yesterday.
Ownership of the area is being contested by the villagers and Tanzania Portland Cement Company Limited since 2001.
The incident comes hardly a month after prison warders brutally beat up and injured journalists and tenants of Air Tanzania Company houses in the Ukonga residential area.
Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, one of the villagers, Abdallah Twalib, who sustained several deep cuts on the head, said that it all started after he questioned why armed FFU officers were demolishing houses without giving reasons.
He said four FFU officers arrived in a Land Rover pick-up (registration number PT 6280) and descended on the village at around 8am and began pulling down houses.
He added that the FFU officers, who were armed with guns and tear gas, attacked him with iron rods.
’I was alone outside my house when they attacked me. I raised the alarm and asked for help from my neighbours,’ he said.
The villager, whose clothes were covered in blood said: ’I remember before losing consciousness that they were firing in the air and lobbing teargas at the other villagers,’ he added.
He said that this was not the first time the police had raided the area and demolished houses, although there is a case pending in High Court.
’They patrol the area almost three times a day and it’s during the visits that houses are demolished and villagers beaten. We don’t live in peace at all and this is done while the case is still pending,’ he said.
Another villager, Hamisi Kisamba, told this paper that he lost two right hand fingers when he attempted to block the police from demolishing his house last Friday.
Commenting on yesterday’s incident, Eliakimu Asangalwisye, who is one of 10 representatives of the villagers, said the villagers, including himself, responded to Twalib’s SOS when they heard him calling for help.
’The officers drove off when the number of villagers increased,’ he said.
However, he added, they decided not to take him to the Wazo Police Post as that could result in him being arrested on trumped-up charges of blocking the officers from carrying out their duties.
Dar es Salaam police chief Alfred Tibaigana declined to comment on the incident, saying he had not received any report.
|
