Buganda : two fuel traffickers killed by Burundian soldiers

Two fuel traffickers were killed, five others seriously injured by soldiers on Friday. The incident took place in the locality of Nyamitanga, in the district of Buganda in the province of Cibitoke (northwest Burundi). The concerned persons were returning from the neighboring DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) where they stocked up on fuel that they resell in Burundi. For four years, the small nation of East Africa has been facing a severe fuel shortage. The district of Buganda has recently become the bulwark of drivers and owners of vehicles in the commercial city of Bujumbura.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The incident took place exactly at the bottom of the 4th avenue, on the river Rusizi separating Burundi and Congo. A person who witnessed the scene on Friday afternoon, claims that Burundian soldiers stationed in the area deliberately opened fire on fuel traffickers who were bringing back several quantities of gasoline and diesel from the DRC.

“Two of them died on the spot and five others were seriously injured. Many cans were swept away by the waters of the river Rusizi,” said an eyewitness to the shooting.

According to a military source, the army and the police were ordered to shoot at point-blank range any trafficker who brings back from Congo or transports fraudulent goods there.

For several months, the district of Buganda has become a bulwark for residents of the commercial capital Bujumbura because it is close to Congo and traffickers from the region control South Kivu, on the border with Burundi where they go to stock up on fuel, which has become a very rare commodity in Burundi for four years.

Some residents call these traffickers who manage to supply the country in this period of increased shortages “heroes and saviors”.

The local administration speaks of a measure aimed at “discouraging illicit trade”. Grassroots authorities who collaborate with fuel traffickers are exposed to severe sanctions, according to a senior officer of the PNB (National Police of Burundi).

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One of the fuel traffickers’ passages in Buganda district in northwestern Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)