Rwanda National Police on Monday confirmed the arrest one of its officers for allegedly shooting dead a civilian over the weekend during an operation to enforce directives against the spread of Covid-19 in Ngoma a district in Eastern Rwanda.
The statement issued by the Police said that “Police has arrested the officer involved in the shooting of Evariste Nsengiyumva, a resident of Zaza sector, Ngoma district.”
According to the police statement, the shooting took place on Sunday evening at 8:30PM, as police and local security organs enforced the nationwide 7 pm (5.00 pm GMT) curfew.
Investigations to establish circumstances of the shooting are underway, said the police.
In a related development, Tthe Spokesperson of Rwanda National Police, Commissioner of Police (CP), John Bosco Kabera has refuted claims by a man arrested last week for not wearing mask at Nyabugogo, a crowded commercial center located in the suburb of Kigali city that he was
tortured and threatened after his arrest.
The man – who allegedly posed as a local administrative near Nyabugogo market testified last week that he was “tortured” by the Police without valid reason.
The incident report said some members of youth volunteers who are deployed across the country for the coronavirus cause, told the man, regardless of his stance on the matter of mask wearing before he refused to do so.
The report states the man continued to argue that he was not required to wear a mask before he was was handcuffed by Police and taken to the police station.
Reacting to these allegations, Commissioner of Police Kabera said that investigation have concluded that the arrested man was suffering from trauma.
CU/abj/APA