Officials in Mozambique say that they are anticipating an increase in crime in the next 48 hours following a deadly prison riot and escape in the country’s capital, Maputo, that left 33 people dead and 15 others injured.

According to the country’s Police General Commander, Bernardino Rafael, about 1,500 inmates escaped from a maximum-security prison.

Authorities have since recaptured 150 prisoners.

Other incidents of attempted jailbreaks have been reported at two different prisons.

Mozambican journalist and social activist Clemente Carlos says the number of the recaptured prisoners could be far less, suggesting there might have been cases of mistake identity with police arresting some innocent people in the process.

“Unfortunately, that number does not reflect the exact number of those who have escaped, because unfortunately, some people were actually caught and just because they looked like criminals. they were taken to prison, although they were not,” says Carlos.

He says the escapees were not wearing prison clothes when they escaped which made re-arrest a complicated task.

“Because most of those prisoners, if not all, they were not wearing prison uniforms, they were wearing their own casual clothing and that has somehow made it difficult for them to be identified once they fled the prison,” he adds.

According to Carlos, some of those who escaped were in custody for serious crimes.

“The general commander of police himself, actually said that about 29 of those prisoners who have escaped, were actually terrorists. So, that’s how bad the situation is because only a 10^th of them were recovered. Still, amongst the 150, not all of those were prisoners. So, I can say perhaps even less than a hundred were actual criminals,” he says.

Clemente Carlos weighs in on the current situation in Mozambique:

Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters have called on the Mozambican government and security forces to exercise maximum restraint and a high level of discipline in dealing with the widespread protests against the election result. This is as fresh protests have erupted in Mozambique following the constitutional council’s decision to reaffirm Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo as President-elect this week.

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The EFF has strongly condemned what it terms repressive tactics used by the Mozambican government, that include the launching of teargas from helicopters, the use of live ammunition and restriction of internet access to silence dissent.

The party says that such actions only serve to escalate tensions and push Mozambique towards a devastating civil war.

The red berets have further urged the South African government, in collaboration with the SADC and the AU, to take urgent and concrete steps to facilitate a sustainable resolution.

Since the beginning of the protests, more than 20 people have lost their lives, with close to 400 injured and 800 detained.

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