The national police spokesman Superintendent Theo’s Badege has said that Eric Nshimiyimana(photo below) health condition is stable. He was shot Thursday evening by a plain cloth policeman after resisting to be searched.
However, Sup. Badege’s remarks contradict that of eye witness Desire who didn’t want to disclose his second name pending sensitivity of the matter.
“No…no I won’t tell you my name but what I can assure you is that a motorcycle taxi carrying a man stopped close to Nshimiyimana and shot him in the chest. Later the armed passenger pressed a pistol onto him and immediately shot his own hand perhaps to fake that it was a gun battle, yet Nshimiyimana never resisted. I can’t add more about this,” said the eye witness.
However, Sup. Badege refutes the eye witness account saying, “What I was informed is that a resident of Gikondo’s Sodoma area alerted police that Nshimiyimana was carrying illegal stuff in his bag.”
“When Policeman alighted from motorcycle and stopped him, Nshimiyimana resisted and turned violent when the policeman pointed a pistol at him. It is through the tussle that the policeman fired a bullet which injured his hand and went straight to Nshimiyimana chest,” he disclosed.
Sup. Badege further stressed that indeed Nshimiyimana a member of Parti Social Imberakuri a political party which associates itself with the opposition, was found in possession with a pistol and twelve bullets.
“The eyewitness must be lying because at first a resident alerted the police and when we did our investigation we found that this guy was certainly carrying a firearm,” said Badege.
Currently, Injured Nshimiyimana is recovering at Kacyiru police hospital and only a few family members are allowed to see him, while members of the press and his party colleagues are restricted from seeing him.
“I’ll inform you the right time for journalists to meet him, currently we’re investigating his case,” Badege remarked.
While there’s still dilemma in the shooting of Nshimiyimana, political parties in the country who consider themselves as the opposition have been silently protesting the matter. And among them is FDU Ikingi party that issued a press release yesterday condemning the shooting.
“We call upon the government to make sure that security personnel do not use their positions to intimidate people; to prosecute the life attempt against opposition members and to ensure that rules of engagement are clear and respected,” stated FDU-Inkingi Interim Vice President Boniface Twagirimana.
Parti Social Imberakuri secretary general Immaculate Uwizeye highlighted that they are seeking international support to sue the government concerning the shooting of its party member.
“you see in Rwanda we’re like a cat and we can’t fight with government which is a Leopard that’s why we’re seeking some support from outside, but at this point I won’t disclose people who have shown interest in helping us, what I can assure you is that justice will prevail,” revealed Uwizeye.
In response to the opposition Sup. Badege bluffed their concerns adding that it would be better if they sued the government instead of destroying the police image by sending deceitful information to some the international media who also have a record of reporting negatively about Rwanda’s progress.
“I wonder why these political parties are exaggerating this matter yet they know very well they are associated to terror activities and one of them is Victoire Ingabire the head of FDU Ikingi who is in court for similar cases,” noted Sup. Badege.
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