News / Local
Vendors bash 4 municipal cops
29 Feb 2016 at 08:08hrs |
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FOUR Bulawayo municipal police officers were rushed to hospital after they were assaulted by vendors on Thursday.
Witnesses said a fight broke out between the illegal vendors and the municipal police officers who had confiscated their goods. The incident occurred around 11AM.
A vendor, Simon Moyo, said: "We saw six council cops running for dear life with a group of vendors hot on their heels. They caught up with them near Bulawayo Service Station and beat them up. Two managed to escape."
He said some vendors were attacking the police officers with stones and other municipal workers who were in a council vehicle tried in vain to save the officers who were under siege.
Moyo said he suspected one of the injured officers broke a jaw.
The local authority's senior public relations officer, Nesisa Mpofu, said the four were injured as they carried out their duties.
"We don't support any mistreatment of residents out there but we encourage traders to respect our staff. Our exercise isn't confrontational but we want sanity to prevail in the city. We're all humans and should learn to work together.
"We want people to do business at the right places and so we expect residents to cooperate and not fight our police officers. There should be utmost respect between the clients and the municipal police officers," said Mpofu.
She said informal traders should use allocated bays to avoid running battles with the municipal police.
A vendor told The Chronicle they were tired of the inhumane treatment they got from the municipal police.
"We decided to retaliate. Their behaviour is barbaric at times. They attack us as if we were animals. We know we're supposed to stick to designated points to sell our wares but life is tough, said the vendor who declined to be named.
Last Friday a commuter omnibus driver crashed his kombi into a shop following a nasty struggle for the steering wheel with a Bulawayo municipal police officer.
The previous week, a municipal cop allegedly throttled a vendor along Fort Street, between 4th and 5th Avenue. In December, a man was hospitalised after he was allegedly beaten up by municipal police officers with rubber truncheons until he lost consciousness after they mistook him for a vendor. Council has launched a blitz on unlicensed vendors who are resisting to operate from designated selling points.
Witnesses said a fight broke out between the illegal vendors and the municipal police officers who had confiscated their goods. The incident occurred around 11AM.
A vendor, Simon Moyo, said: "We saw six council cops running for dear life with a group of vendors hot on their heels. They caught up with them near Bulawayo Service Station and beat them up. Two managed to escape."
He said some vendors were attacking the police officers with stones and other municipal workers who were in a council vehicle tried in vain to save the officers who were under siege.
Moyo said he suspected one of the injured officers broke a jaw.
The local authority's senior public relations officer, Nesisa Mpofu, said the four were injured as they carried out their duties.
"We want people to do business at the right places and so we expect residents to cooperate and not fight our police officers. There should be utmost respect between the clients and the municipal police officers," said Mpofu.
She said informal traders should use allocated bays to avoid running battles with the municipal police.
A vendor told The Chronicle they were tired of the inhumane treatment they got from the municipal police.
"We decided to retaliate. Their behaviour is barbaric at times. They attack us as if we were animals. We know we're supposed to stick to designated points to sell our wares but life is tough, said the vendor who declined to be named.
Last Friday a commuter omnibus driver crashed his kombi into a shop following a nasty struggle for the steering wheel with a Bulawayo municipal police officer.
The previous week, a municipal cop allegedly throttled a vendor along Fort Street, between 4th and 5th Avenue. In December, a man was hospitalised after he was allegedly beaten up by municipal police officers with rubber truncheons until he lost consciousness after they mistook him for a vendor. Council has launched a blitz on unlicensed vendors who are resisting to operate from designated selling points.
Source - chronicle
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