Home Mozambique Police take 184 children off the streets for disobeying the state of emergency

Police take 184 children off the streets for disobeying the state of emergency

A total of 184 children between the ages of 7 and 16 were taken from the streets by the Mozambican police in Chimoio, central Mozambique, for disobeying the state of emergency in force in the country, the corporation reported today.

Mozambique has been in a state of emergency since April 1 to prevent covid-19.

The children were picked up when selling fruit, peanuts, cookies and plastic bags in informal markets and leisure venues, including football fields at schools in the suburbs of Chimoio, without observing the minimum of preventive measures, explained the spokesman of the command of the police of the province of Manica, Mário Arnaça.

“The children were detained in several police stations and were only released after the introduction of the guardians,” said the official at the corporation’s weekly press conference.

“Caretakers went through an awareness campaign to not send children to the streets to sell in their place,” he added.

The minors also had a lecture and those who have not yet been claimed by adult relatives were taken to the provincial children’s center.

Children sell on the streets to support the family’s income, some sent by their own parents and others hired as domestic helpers.

The governor of Manica, Francisca Tomás, expressed concern about minors who continue to circulate on public roads alone and without protection, reiterating the need to keep children at home during the period of school closure.

“We should not use our children to sell bananas, cookies, peanuts and other goods, or buy what the family needs to consume, because they can contract covid-19,” she appealed to the media.

Mário Arnaça guaranteed that the police will reinforce the surveillance in the streets and places of leisure to prevent children from circulating in time to prevent the new coronavirus.

“We need to protect the children from Covid-19 and the police will continue to play their role in enforcing the orders of the state of emergency,” he concluded.

Mozambique has an accumulated total of 883 cases of covid-19, with six deaths and 229 recovered.

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