On the night of Saturday January 18 to Sunday January 19, 2025, unidentified armed men attacked a base of Chinese mining operators working with the Giro Goldfield company on the 12 Matches mining site, located in the Anguleyi group, Kibali sector , in Watsa territory, Haut-Uele province, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to Jean David Abule, coordinator of the New Congolese Civil Society in the region, 9 attackers burst into the camp, overpowering the guards, police and soldiers responsible for security. They would have benefited from internal complicity to carry out their operation.
“These armed bandits, around nine, infiltrated the camp. They overpowered the guards, stole a gun, and knew precisely where the money was. They took five Chinese hostage and fired several warning shots before disappearing into the wild. A female police officer on site told us that the criminals arrived after a power outage that occurred around 8 p.m.-9 p.m., which suggests internal complicity. They left the scene with the Chinese, whom they released after about 300 meters,” said Jean David Abule.
In recent days, a climate of mistrust has developed between local communities and foreign mining operators operating under the guise of mining cooperatives. The accusations against them include environmental destruction, mistreatment of Congolese workers, and practices deemed illegal.
On an official visit to Watsa, the provincial governor, Jean Bakomito Gambu, denounced the misuse of operating authorizations by certain cooperatives, which allow foreigners to illegally enter the mining sector.
-Faced with these irregularities, the governor ordered the immediate cessation of the activities of the cooperative involved. He accused the latter of false declarations, complicity in the plunder of natural resources and environmental destruction.
“Semi-industrial exploitation must comply with a strict legal framework and requires specific permits. Mining cooperatives, for their part, are limited to artisanal mining,” recalled Jean Bakomito.
Joel Lembakasi
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