By Suleiman Sabdow
NAIROBI– Somalia government has raised concern over arrest of Somali Nationals living in Ndola town of Zambia who were arrested and taken to Stadium over undisclosed reasons.
In a statement posted on the official Twitter handle of the Somalia Foreign affairs ministry, the government decried about the manner the Somali citizens were arrested and later released after several hours of scrutiny.
MFA is closely monitoring alleged reports of mass arrests of Somalis in #Ndola, #Zambia,based on their ethnicity, irrespective of nationality, is a cause of concern and presently engaging authorities in Zambia for clarity & resolving this unfortunate event expeditiously.#Somalia pic.twitter.com/IoWceISN0N
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs ?? (@MOFASomalia) October 29, 2021
The Foreign affairs ministry said itskeenly following the developments in the Ndola town of Zambia where citizens of Somali origin were arrested based on their ethnicity arrested without clear circumstances and are engaging the authorities to unravel the circumstances behind the mass arrests.
Zambia police had on yesterday arrested people from their homes and business centres and taken to a concentration camp in one of the stadiums in Ndola town under unclear circumstances.
Videos posted on social media platforms depicted a large number of people in buses and being driven to the stadium by heavy security officers.
Those arrested included children, women and men who were later in the day released after the authorities screened their documents but remained behind with 40 people.
Zambia government has so far neither commented nor released a statement regarding the matter but Somali government in Moqadishu said they will liaise with their counterparts to establish the motive behind the mass arrests of its nationals.
