Jeiel de Freitas, a civic activist residing in Huambo province, told Lusa that the current situation in the city is one of uncertainty, although the outbreaks of violence have decreased, following Monday's protests against rising fuel prices.
"There is a lot of police on the street to try to inhibit any act of violence, but there are no taxis circulating, there is a lot of uncertainty, people are afraid, there are schools that have decreed time tolerance today due to the non-circulation of taxis", he said.
According to the activist, only public buses circulate in the city of Huambo, in southern Angola, as there is still some resistance from taxi drivers to taking to the streets, when others are dissatisfied with the position of the local association of the class.
"The ATA [Association of Taxi Drivers of Angola] here in Huambo, which was the main promoter of this demonstration, I don't know if there were clandestine negotiations or something like that, but it completely changed its discourse and this morning its provincial secretary has a different discourse", he said.
The province of Huambo was, this Monday, the scene of protests by taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers, because they allegedly did not benefit from subsidized cards for the purchase of gasoline, whose liter costs since Friday 300 kwanzas against the previous 160 kwanzas.
In a statement, the police repudiated the acts, which they considered "public disorder and an affront to the police forces" and regretted the death of five people and the injury of eight others, in addition to announcing that 34 people were arrested.
Regarding the numbers advanced by the police, Jeiel de Freitas contradicts this version, stating that the number of detainees is increasing and that the injured were counted at more than 30, who were admitted on Monday to the emergency bank of the Hospital Geral do Huambo.
"The police are still carrying out searches, this means that the number of detainees is increasing. So there is still a lot of uncertainty here and it won't be in a day... that's why I say that the police statement is not so true, there is no enough materials to have conclusive data", noted the activist.
"The police speak of five dead and eight wounded, but our source at the hospital says that the number of wounded advanced by the police is perhaps just those who went to the operating room, because the number of wounded who were admitted to the hospital's emergency room General of Huambo exceeds three dozen", he justified.
The also member of the Civic Movement Mudei added: "There are still wounded, who, afraid of being detained, did not go to the hospital, they are receiving assistance in private posts and some even at home".
The Government announced last week the gradual withdrawal of gasoline subsidies, maintaining the subsidy to the agricultural sector and fishing.
According to the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, Manuel Nunes Júnior, the rates of taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers will be subsidized, with them continuing to pay 160 kwanzas per liter of gasoline, with the State covering the difference.
