On August 3, this year, gunmen abducted six Muslim preachers from Zanzibar who were on a preaching mission in DRC. The clerics were kidnapped in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kiseguro area, in the restive province of North Kivu where several armed groups operate and kidnappings are frequent.
According to Sheikh Ali Yussuf, one of the spokespersons of the grieving families of the abducted clerics, the kidnappers demand $20,000 ransom (per head) for their release and the amount must be paid as soon as possible.
“It is now almost a month, we do not know their fate. We do not have the money, but even if we have the money, we are afraid; we are not sure whether we are communicating with the right people (kidnapers).
We want our brothers back home soon, but the government officers in Zanzibar say we should be patient as they work on the issue,” Sheikh Yussuf said.
However, Yussuf said, some Islamic organisations in DRC have also been trying to negotiate with the kidnappers for the release of the kidnapped Zanzibari Muslims.
They say the progress is positive. Sheikh Fadhil Soraga- Secretary, Mufti’s office responsible for Muslim affairs in Zanzibar, said: “We are aware of the problem, and I hope the government has been working hard to save the kidnapped clerics.”
Efforts to get comments from the authorities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs &International Relation in Dar es Salaam, proved futile yesterday as some of the calls ended unanswered.
/Daily News.
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