THERE was commotion in Ndola not so long ago after word went round that some people were abducting children, killing them and selling their body parts in their quest to amass wealth.
According to rumours that dominated the airwaves on July 2, 2014, named business people had directed others to abduct children loitering around who would later be killed and their body parts used for rituals.
There has been a disturbing contemplation in Zambia of late, that many among the local wealthy business persons got their money from some kind of ritual inclination or sacrifice.
Never do we hear of our friends of different colour or race being finger-pointed as the ones who have amass wealth from rituals and Satanism.
Principally, it is not right to believe stories based on mere rumours, let alone reacting in any way to such information, because it may turn out not to be true.
Residents in Kaloko, Kabushi and Chipulukusu, however, left nothing to chance and ran riots, in the process damaging a police post, looting and blocking roads with logs and stones.
Police had a torrid time containing the situation as they relied on firing tear gas and later arresting a few suspects behind the unrest.
Whether or not the information is true, that there are people engaged in the act, mob action should not be encouraged because it is the duty of the police, not ordinary individuals, to maintain order.
Others may argue that police are often reluctant to react to situations of urgency, but this does not mean that ordinary citizens should take the law into their own hands.
Suffice to say that the police and other law-enforcement agencies should have began investigating reports of missing children, if any, thoroughly before the situation got out of hand.
Scholars say “there is no smoke without fire” and this platform totally agrees that residents of Kaloko, Kabushi and Chipulukusu had a reason to be concerned for their own safety.
In this day and age of technology, the majority of people have been kept abreast with the happenings in Northern Nigeria where 200 girls were abducted by Islamic group Boko Haram.
Police did not have to wait for a report to be filed. They, as part of the intelligence unit, should have started following up the matter under cover so that the public could be properly guided.
Now, people in the affected areas are reluctant to send their children to public places, including school, for fear that they may not return.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has spoken out on the matter and assured that issues of national security are in capable hands.
In as much as this statement is fulfilling, it begs the question of whether children are safe to mingle around public places.
Does this mean that police officers now have to guard a football pitch whenever children are playing there, or keep vigil at the schools while lessons are going on?
This platform feels that there is need for the Government to equip the police with means of maintaining public law.
There should also be some form of addressing these rumours of people killing others and using their body parts for rituals.
It may not be common with the children but the nation is aware of many adults who have been found dead with missing body parts.
Here, the Church also needs to rise up and pray for this country because clearly the last days are well and truly upon us, hence the spate of unexplained happenings in our country.
Information about child abductions in Ndola was disseminated on a live programme on one of the local radio stations.
One of the rudiments of good journalism is to uphold responsibility if factual reporting is to be achieved.
One should not publish or broadcast information without screening its worth and source because alarming citizens unnecessarily is a recipe for anarchy.
Eyes of the police must have been well and truly opened after the incident in Ndola and no individuals involved in malicious acts should be let to go scot-free.
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