Luanda, July 28, 2025 (Lusa) - The Angolan police said on Monday that law and order had been restored in some parts of Luanda province, where acts of vandalism were reported in the morning following a taxi strike, announcing several arrests.
Speaking to the press, National Police spokesman Deputy Commissioner Mateus Rodrigues said that acts of vandalism had been reported since the early hours of today, causing disturbances to public order and tranquillity in some parts of the province.
In a public statement condemning these practices, Mateus Rodrigues said that commercial and other establishments had been invaded, which the police ‘strongly’ discouraged.
“We would like to appeal to citizens who are involved in this type of practice to stop this behaviour,” he said, stressing that the police are using all their resources and personnel to restore law and order.
“All the men and resources available to the police are on the streets to ensure that we return to tranquillity. At this moment, several arrests have already been made, and these individuals will be brought before the justice system so that they can be held accountable,” he said.
“Once again, we want to reiterate our condemnation of these acts, our public disapproval of these acts, warn citizens who are involved in these practices to stop and assure law-abiding citizens that everything is being done to return the situation to normal in the coming hours,” he added.
Asked about images circulating on social media of people allegedly injured in these acts, Mateus Rodrigues repeated that forces are on the ground to ensure that the situation returns to normal.
"This specific case of a citizen who was lying on the ground unable to receive assistance has already been resolved. It has been possible to assist the citizen, we are now unable to pass on information about his state of health, but we can say that the situation is increasingly returning to normal thanks to the action of our forces on the streets," he stressed, adding that it was not possible, for the time being, to indicate the number of detainees, "because the actions are still ongoing".
Mateus Rodrigues emphasised the need to separate what is happening today, which he said has nothing to do with a peaceful act.
"A strike is one thing, which is a highly peaceful act, and the acts we are witnessing are another thing. We are seeing real acts of vandalism with theft and destruction of public property, so we cannot say that this is a strike," he said, rejecting the idea that the situation is out of the police's control.
Until Wednesday, the last day of the strike, the police will step up measures “whenever the threat level dictates,” he stressed.
Earlier this month, the price of diesel rose from 300 to 400 kwanzas per litre (€0.28 to €0.37) as part of the government's gradual withdrawal of fuel subsidies, which began in 2023, leading to an adjustment in public transport fares.
In view of the rise in diesel prices, the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) raised the price of shared taxis (occasional passenger transport) from 200 (€0.19) to 300 kwanzas (€0.28) and the fare for urban buses from 150 (€0.13) to 200 kwanzas.
Taxi drivers point out that more than 15 days have passed without the government “hearing the cry for help from taxi drivers”, so they have decided that “the taxi driver associations and cooperatives ANATA, ATA, CTMF, ATLA, CTCS, 2PN and AB-TAXI” will halt taxi services on the 28th, 29th and 30th of this month.
In the early hours of today, there were crowds at taxi ranks in various parts of the province, with many videos circulating on social media showing the situation, acts of vandalism in shops, buses being stoned, barricades on the roads and tyres being burned.
NME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
