Butembo-Beni, 22 March, 2023 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
St. Octavian Major Seminary Vulindi, an Inter-diocesan house of formation in Butembo-Beni Diocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was looted in a nighttime robbery, the Rector of the Seminary has confirmed.
Speaking at a Press Conference Wednesday, March 22, Fr. Jean Berkchmas Mukwemulere said that the robbery took place during the March 21-22 night by armed men alleged to be members of the Mai Mai rebels.
“At 8.30pm, as we were heading towards the chapel, we saw men dressed as soldiers with weapons in their hands,” Fr. Mukwemulere recounted.
The Rector of the Congolese Major Seminary added in reference to the armed men, “Some were already threatening the Seminarians to show them the room of the person in charge, demanding money.”
The armed men spotted a Priest, and having gained access to his room, they made away with “his phone and some money,” Fr. Mukwemulere told journalists, adding that the robbers who he said “were mainly young people” also made away with “computers (and) at least 15 telephones from Seminarians.”