By Chinyere Nwoye :
Police in Madagascar have shot and killed at least 14 people and injured 28 others after opening fire on a crowd trying to break into a police station to kill four men accused of kidnapping an albino child.
According to a police report, the kidnapping took place in Ikongo which is about 80 kilometers southeast of the capital Antananarivo.
The report also has it that a mob of about 500 angry villagers armed with machetes and knives stormed the local Police station in Ikongo, calling for the release of the four arrested suspects so that they could deal with them.
“The protesters, then, tried to break into the station.’’
“There were negotiations between the Police and the villagers for them to await Police investigations but they (the villagers) insisted to have their way,” the Police report said.
The Police fired smoke grenades and shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd but they kept pushing their way through and we had no choice but to defend ourselves.’’
Local doctor Tango Oscar Toky said, “nine people died on the spot” and another five died later in hospital; Nine of the injured are in critical condition.
A local lawmaker Jean-Brunelle also told reporters that the gendarmes fired at the crowd in anwan unacceptable way which resulted to the deaths.
Some sub-Saharan African countries have faced a spate of attacks on people with albinism, whose body parts can be sold for thousands of dollars for ritual purposes.
