Security service mulls Operation Fiela resurgence

‘MATHATO SEBOKA

MASERU – The hard-fisted ‘Operation Fiela’ onslaught on famo-related violence is gaining impetus, with a team of security agencies headed for the Mokhotlong district. 

The crime-busting team is made up of members drawn from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), Lesotho Correctional Services (LCS) and the National Security Services (NSS).

At a press conference held at the police headquarters, on Wednesday this week, LMPS Public Relations Officer, Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli, said that they have received alarming crime reports from Mokhotlong and they are intent to respond “as we should.”

“Operation Fiela was a success in reducing the criminal activities in areas like Berea, Leribe and Mokhotlong, However, it has come to our realisation that the Mokhotlong district appears to have reported an increase in criminal offences such as murder and attempted murder,” Mopeli said.

He added “To answer this problem, Operation Fiela will be seen with full force at Mokhotlong.”

Mopeli made a pledge to the community leaders to assist in working together with them.

“We pledge for a virtuous cooperation to the chiefs and community leaders in general. We also pledge to the gangs and individuals to hand themselves and the illegal guns to the police and to stop their wretched deeds,” Mopeli said.

He said that what raised an eyebrow were the criminal offences happening at Mokhotlong that included an attack between two famo gangs, between Khang-kholo and Seakhi sa Mokhotlong (Phakisa) which happened at Malingoaneng, where one person was injured and a car was damaged.

The second report was of an attack on one individual while the other one was injured at Mangaung, Nthlolohetsane and a family was threatened with the guns.

Two men, with illegal guns and bullets were nabbed after they threatened passengers in a public vehicle. There were also gunshots of a resident’s car in Khubelu, Mopeli said.

There were sporadic incidents where women were forced to be in love relationships with the gang members who had threatened them of death if they decline on WhatsApp voice notes and calls using South African numbers.

“Some of these reported cases have appeared before the courts,” Mopeli added.

The Superintendent added that the most common crimes that happened were murder, attempted murder, death threats, property damage, livestock theft, armed robbery and illegal guns.

Speaking about the police presser Senior Superintended Piti Khutlang said that what they are doing is a form of sensitisation.

“This is our way of responding to the community outcry, the community have shown dissatisfaction because they live

in fear,” Khutlang said.

He showed that since the commencement of Operation Fiela there has been a reduction in Famo gangs and that shows that it has tangible results.

Khutlang provided the statistics of the successes of the Operation Fiela. He indicated that from January to end of February this year    they managed to find, 38 illegal guns, 696 bullets, 1 015 livestock, 67 people were arrested, 19 of which have been convicted and 4 are still before the courts.

He went on to show that the total statistics from the beginning of Operation Fiela showed that there is a total 747 illegal gun, 3 031 bullets, 6 001 livestock and 1 079, completed cases were 390, and the cases still before court are 207.

These agencies go into the second wave of Operation Fiela with a highly checkered past, Operation Fiela and Operation Hard Fist are reported to have scarred and traumatized victims who reportedly bore police and army brutality in the wake of a call by Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane that the army should step up to curb spirally famo related killings in 2024.

The Ombudsman, Advocate Tlotliso Polaki, on March 12 tabled a report on Torture and Military Detention in Lesotho – detailed tale of horror on how the two operations affected victims and their families as well as traumatized the communities from which they came as the security agencies went in search for illegal firearms.

She said it was unusual for the Ombudsman to interject in issues pertaining to the country’s security agencies. However, the public outcry has prompted the Ombudsman to delve in these issues, Advocate Polaki said.

She indicated that she disagreed with the agencies’ modus operandi of torture as tactics to retrieve illegal guns or information from suspects.

She, however, noted that the security agencies cited that the methods they used helped them to forcefully retrieve a significant number of firearms.

The operations helped in getting suspects nabbed and illegal firearms recovered – many illegal firearms were alleged to have been stolen from the army and the police’s armory at different points in time . . . many had been used to commit crimes, the report states.

“The army has received a lot of criticism over the ruthless manner in which it seeks to recover illegal firearms from suspects within communities, which is linked to a lot of ill treatment and possible unlawful detentions, which are viewed as serious human rights violations,” the report further explained.

The Ombudsman and her team of investigators undertook the task of visiting a number of villages over some months to get validity of the ill treatment and violations subjected to victims during the operations Hard Fist and Fiela.