Luanda, July 29, 2025 (Lusa) - The Angolan police said that more than 100 people suspected of acts of vandalism were detained on Monday following a minibus taxi strike against rising fuel prices.
According to police spokesman Deputy Commissioner Mateus Rodrigues, the current situation is stable and the disturbances reported in the morning are now under control.
“We have our forces controlling these locations,” Mateus Rodrigues told the press, emphasising the seizure of some goods “in the possession of individuals who committed acts of violence” reported in various parts of the Angolan capital.
The police reported the destruction of around 20 public transport buses, with the number of damaged private vehicles yet to be counted.
Mateus Rodrigues stressed that the figures are still preliminary, because the police are still calculating and receiving information about what actually happened.
“From the point of view of measures, they remain high, our forces remain on the streets to ensure that those small pockets of disorder are deactivated,” he said.
The police spokesman discouraged citizens from engaging in “any act of disobedience”.
According to the source, the public security forces “will not tolerate these acts of public disorder and drastic measures will be taken to restore public order at all costs”.
“We want to reiterate, to discourage citizens who are committing these types of acts, we are investigating (...) we have data, we have images, we are continuing with the investigation and all those who committed acts of looting will be arrested, in addition to these 100, there will be other arrests and all of them will be brought to justice,” he said.
In this latest report, the police did not mention any fatalities or injuries during the riots, after having reported one person injured in their first statement, who was later rescued.
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 minibus taxis (occasional passenger transport) from 200 kwanzas (€0.19) to 300 kwanzas (€0.28) and the fare for urban buses from 150 kwanzas (€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 Monday, 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
