True, at least 1 person killed during clashes linked to a funeral in the Ebola context in Beni/Païda

“A police officer belonging to the unit escorting the Ebola response team has just shot and killed this young girl. We are at the Katula/Paida cemetery. Here is the grave where the confirmed case, around whom the incident took place, was supposed to be buried,” says a viral video circulating in WhatsApp groups located in Beni (DRC) tracked by VokaCheck.

The World Health Organization (WHO) team deployed in Beni also confirmed the incident to VokaCheck, specifying that the casualty toll was being processed and that a joint team of health and administrative authorities from North Kivu province was investigating the incident. 

SUSPECTED PERPETRATORS OF THE SHOOTING ARRESTED 

Continuing its verification of the details of this incident, VokaCheck spoke with Senior Police Commissioner Kahumba Lemba Jean-Fabien Sébastien, the urban police commander in the city of Beni. The officer deplored the consequences of this event but specified that the police had arrested the alleged shooters, who must explain the circumstances that led to this tension and the reported damage. 

« The entire unit in the jeep escorting the response teams has been detained. These alleged shooters who caused this damage (death and injuries) must provide full explanations to the police regarding the course of events » he said. 

THE RESPONSE TARGETED FOR MISMANAGEMENT AND INCOMPETENCE IN HANDLING THIS HEALTH CRISIS 

A member of the RCCE (Risk Communication and Community Engagement) pillar of the government's response team and a pro-democracy activist based in Beni, Nick Junior Vusindi considers the quality of the health response ineffective in the face of multiple field challenges. Speaking to VokaCheck and on his Facebook account, he denounces mismanagement and explains that this incident occurred while local teams working to defeat Ebola are threatening to strike over a range of grievances.