Staff Writer
According to a military source, the Congolese soldier accused of carrying out a family murder that left 13 people dead, including nine children, on Saturday in Ituri, in the north-east of the DRC, has been detained and will go on trial on Tuesday.
The testimony gathered on Sunday indicates that this soldier did not endorse the idea that one of his children who passed away while he was away was buried without his knowledge. He returned to the scene of the crime, the fishing community of Nyakova in the area of Djugu, and started shooting at the mourners there.
A report from concordant sources stated that thirteen of them were killed, including at least nine youngsters. A military spokesman said that two of the soldier’s dead included one’s own children.
This soldier was a private assigned to the 332nd naval force of the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), headquartered in Tacoma, on the beaches of Lake Albert, bordering Uganda, according to Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, spokesman for the army in the area.
He claims that following the murder, the soldier ran away and hid in Tchomia, where he was discovered on Sunday night and “placed at the justice’s disposal for trial.” Nyakova is 2 miles away from Chomia.
Colonel Magistrate Joseph Makelele, senior military prosecutor of the military court in Ituri province, told AFP that the military prosecutor is getting ready for a trial that starts in flagrante this Tuesday in Tchomia. This 32-year-old soldier, Babby Ndombe Opetu, is being tried for murder and “violation of instructions,” he added.
It has not been confirmed, but a source from civic society claimed on Sunday that a 14th victim had passed away from his wounds. On the other hand, another account claims that a nearby neighbor of the tragic scene became frightened shot, suffered a heart attack, and passed away.
