A sign reading “Bible Training Centre, Strive to receive praise from God” is seen at the Christian Aid Ministries compound
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Haitian man asserting that he represents a gang who kidnapped a group of American and Canadian missionaries said in a video posted on YouTube on Thursday that he is willing to kill “these Americans” if he does not get what he needs.
The man speaking in the video, dressed in a purple suit, is identifiable as the man known in Haiti by the alias Lamo Sanjou, the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang.
The video shows the man speaking in the street and surrounded by other, unidentified men. The missionaries are not present.
A top Haitian official this week said the kidnappers had requested US$17 million for the release of the missionaries.
The kidnapped group from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries consisted of 16 US citizens and one Canadian national. They were in a bus after a visit to an orphanage when they were abducted, the group said.
Haiti has seen a sharp rise in kidnappings following the killing of President Jovenel Moise in July as armed gangs take advantage of spreading insecurity, food shortages and the government’s political crisis.
The 400 Mawozo gang snatched the missionary group in Ganthier, east of the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haitian police inspector Frantz Champagne told the media.
The gang, whose name roughly translates to 400 “inexperienced men”, controls the Croix-des-Bouquets area that includes Ganthier, where the kidnapping occurred.
The Centre for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-Prince has tallied an alarming increase in kidnappings in Haiti, with more than 600 in the first three months of 2021, up from 231 in the corresponding period of 2020.
“The police have proven incapable of confronting the gangs, which have become better organised and which control more and more territory,” Gedeon Jean, director of the centre, said. — NNN-AGENCIES
