Suspects, victims in recent abductions knew each other, reveals Mwiimbu

By Kombe Chimpinde Mataka

HOME Affairs minister Jack Mwiimbu says what complicated the breakthrough in the Pamela Chisupa and 12 others case is that the abductors and abductees know each other.

Addressing journalists in Lusaka today, Mwiimbu said preliminary investigations suggest that the 13 girls that were rescued from a house in Chalala had a relation in one way or another with the assailants from their secondary school days.

“What complicated the breakthrough in this matter was the fact that the abductors targeted people who they knew from their school days. The brief facts are that between 17th March and 15th June 2022 four females who are mobile money agents were abducted,” he said. “And between August and September 2022 , nine nursing students from a named university in Chilanga district were abducted from their boarding houses. This made it very difficult as parents thought their children were in school and their authorities assuming that students could have gone home, and as such there were no police reports that were made to any police station.”

He however said police were still interviewing the victims.

“These abductions were difficult to investigate, taking into account that there was familiarity between the victims and the abductors. The abductors in this case were headboy and senior prefect at the school where the victims were students. They were very close friends with the abductors,” Mwiimbu said.

He said mobile money booth agent Angela Chisupa was abducted by a former classmate at a named secondary school in Kabwe, James Bwalya, a suspect in the matter.

Mwiimbu said another victim, Paxina Chanda, confessed to having been abducted by the same Bwalya.

He said another nursing student, Priscila Bwalya, was also abducted by Bwalya whom she claimed was a former classmate.

Mwiimbu said the abductors used similar tricks to lure their victims.

“The Zambia Police has arrested five suspects in this matter,” he said.

Mwiimbu dismissed reports that one victim was killed and buried within the same premises.

He said investigations established that there was no dead body buried around the same place.

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