Congo official attacked in capital

12 April 2012

A senior official from the Democratic Republic of Congo has been attacked in a clash with "protesters" in London.

Leonard She Okitundu, chief of staff to Congolese president Joseph Kibala, was one of a number of people injured in the attack in the Park Royal area on Wednesday evening.

The Guardian reported that Mr Okitundu's clothes were forcibly removed and his briefcase, money and credit cards stolen with pictures later posted on the internet.

Mr Okitundu told The Guardian: "They pulled me out of the car to beat and kick me.

"They took my jacket and my trousers, my shirt and my pants. Then they dragged me and left me lying naked."

He also told reporters that the other men attacked were diplomats Henri Nswana and Placide Mbatika.

He said he believed the assault was politically motivated.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said that police had been called to Park Royal Metro Centre at around 5.30pm on Wednesday to a "disturbance between Congolese officials and protesters".

He continued: "The protesters became violent and attacked the officials causing what we describe as moderate injuries. A number of people were taken to hospital for treatment."

He said that no-one had been arrested and inquiries were continuing.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in