Rizwan Adatia

Eight days after his release, philanthropist and businessman Rizwan Adatia, kidnapped on April 30, met media professionals to share some details of his captivity.

In his first public statements on the issue, Adatia started by saying that he never thought that he would be a victim of this type of crime, which seemed to him to have created a whole new class of wealthy people in the country.

About his kidnapping, he said that, on the day of its occurrence (April 30), he had just left one of his offices at “Matola Jumbo” and was intercepted by two vehicles while speaking on his mobile phone. According to him, the two vehicles surrounded him and one of the occupants, who was at the wheel of one of the vehicles, ordered him to close his eyes before he was forced into one of the vehicles.

“When we arrived at my place of captivity, they put me in a bathroom. They said they wanted money and that they had unpaid debts,” said Adatia, patron of the foundation which carries his name.

In his short press conference, Rizwan praised the work of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), adding that he never imagined that he would remain in captivity for such “a short time”.

SERNIC spokesman Leonardo Simbine said that investigations to identify those behind the kidnapping were still ongoing, while the entrepreneur himself reported that his commercial establishments had continued to function normally despite his absence.

The Rizwan Adatia Foundation has meanwhile announced that, over the next few days, it would support 10,000 families from Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane provinces with food products, a number of Mozambicans having returned from neighbouring South Africa completely without means of livelihood because of the Covid-19 pandemic.