Speaking to Lusa, Nelito Ekuikui said that he arrived on Friday at 12h00 at Luena airport (Moxico province) for a day of work with JURA (United Revolutionary Youth of Angola), with the militants who were waiting for him dispersed by the police using tear gas.
"These young people were there to receive me and they put the PIR [Rapid Intervention Police] at the airport. When we were trying to leave, they started throwing tear gas and shooting at us", said Ekuikui, adding that the intervention was directed by the commander deputy provincial of the National Police.
According to the secretary general of JURA, who is also a member of UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), the aim would be to "make it impossible" for young people to gather, with the police charge resulting in 10 injuries, one of which seriously.
"It was a premeditated action", he accused, saying that there was no provocation on the part of the young people, nor display of posters or slogans or any act that would lead to a police charge.
Nelito Ekuikui, who shared the videos on his Facebook page, said there were no arrests and added that he was also hit with a tear gas grenade in the back, complaining of "political intolerance" and "intimidation", which happened on previous occasions.
"There has already been an incident like this in Cuando Cubango, on the 24th of June. Everywhere I was there were elite police in a clear attempt to intimidate. I had to leave without completing my journey", he told Lusa.
The head of JURA considered that the only reason there was no police intervention at the time was because "the young people did not march".
Questioned about what UNITA was going to do in the face of these events, Nelito Ekuikui said he had no information to give at this time.
In turn, the National Police justified the police intervention against UNITA militants in Moxico, with the need to "restore order" in the face of acts of disobedience and contempt against authority.
In a statement released on the National Police's Facebook social network page, the Provincial Command of Moxico says that the intervention was due to the fact that previously agreed instructions between the police and the organizers of Nelito Ekuikui's reception were disobeyed, "regarding the movement of the visiting delegation from the airport to the place of accommodation".
The Angolan authorities say that the fact that Ekuikui's visit was communicated "with a considerable delay", with other activities taking place at the same time, it would be necessary to close several arteries of the city "with the parties agreeing to exclude the march that had been scheduled".
In the same communiqué, they refer that after the UNITA delegation disembarked, the militants tried to carry out the march, "trying to force the security barrier, rebelling against the police forces, with acts of contempt and public disorder".
Afterwards, the police forces "reacted, restoring order, having seized 11 motorcycles abandoned by those involved in the acts of disorder".
