The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the largest opposition party, held a demonstration in Benguela on Sunday to mark the 56th anniversary of the party founded by Jonas Savimbi.
According to the Benguela Provincial Command of the Angolan police, during the rally, "UNITA militants were armed with backpacks and briefcases and, inside these, there were blunt and sharp objects that were immediately seized".
"This situation led to some agitation in the place, but in a prudent and pedagogical way the police knew how to contain the tempers, avoiding serious alteration of the order", reads in the police communiqué that "deplores what happened and appeals to political formations, pressure groups and others to guide their conduct in compliance with the Constitution and the laws in force".
The provincial secretary of UNITA in Benguela, Adriano Sapinãla, said, however, that the communiqué is "full of lies" that aim to "pinch the success" that was the activity carried out in that province and that had "immaculate work by the police on the spot".
"We regret the fact that it is a forensic institution that comes up with lies of this type, we do not have any militants detained, we have not had any militants who carried material or blunt objects in the activity", said this Tuesday the politician in statements to the Lusa.
"But if I have a party, what is the need to go to my party with machetes, clubs, knives as mentioned in this statement from the national police?", he asked.
According to Adriano Sapinãla, the police in Benguela "position themselves as a competitor of UNITA" and the aforementioned statement, riddled with "untruths for public opinion, aims to tarnish the success of the activity carried out on Sunday".
"And this is the background of this whole situation, we do not have any militant arrested so far, we have not had any incidents during the celebration of the party's 56th anniversary, so the police statement is a pure lie", highlighted.
"They really think that if they had taken these blunt objects from UNITA militants, with what the police have been doing, they would not have presented these UNITA militants", he questioned again.
Adriano Sapinãla, also a deputy, also referred that the activity took place "normally and had impeccable police work", warning of the "contradiction" of the commander's report who was on the ground and the "communication forged with untruths".
