Two suspected motorcycle taxi thieves were burned alive and killed on Tuesday in a busy section of the Burundian capital, witnesses said.
The two men, who had allegedly recently stolen a motorbike in Bujumbura, were chased down by dozens of enraged motorcycle taxi drivers.
The drivers then ”necklaced” the men by placing gasoline-filled tires around their necks and setting them ablaze, the witnesses said.
”We have just finished off these two robbers as an example,” one of the drivers who participated said. ”These motorbike thieves must stop.”
The driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that motorbike robberies have become increasingly common and more frequently deadly for motorcycle taxi operators, who have little protection against crime.
”Thieves have already killed several of us and nothing has been done to stop these criminals,” he said.
At least nine motorcycle taxi drivers have been killed in the past year while working in Bujumbura, according to an informal survey of operators.
However, Burundi’s main human rights advocacy group, Iteka, did not share the drivers’ satisfaction with the killings, particularly in a country that is still emerging from a brutal 11-year civil war.
”We condemn these acts of vigilante justice, which have been increasing lately, and we ask the authorities to put an end to it by arresting and prosecuting the people responsible for what happened this morning,” said Joseph Mujiji, an Iteka official.
Two people were killed in similar circumstance by motorcycle taxi drivers on January 21 in Burundi’s northern province of Ngozi, according to Iteka, which said at least 11 people have been killed by vigilantes in the past three months. — Sapa-AFP