As one way of protecting people with albinism, Blantyre Police Station has started registering them in its area of jurisdiction for easy monitoring.
Speaking in an interview at the weekend, Blantyre Police spokesperson Elizabeth Divala said the exercise, which started about two weeks ago, follows an order from the National Police Headquarters to have the population of albinos established by their nearest police where they can easily report if they feel threatened.
This comes amid reports of albino abductions and killings since February last year with registered murder cases now at 17 and abduction cases at more than 65 abductions.
The malpractice is said to have brought a sense of insecurity among persons with albinism, their relatives and friends.
Divala said so far, Blantyre Police Station has registered eight people with albinism from South Lunzu, seven from Milare and five from Mbayani.
Divala appealed to the public to collaborate in protecting people with albinism.
Commenting on the issue, Association of People with Albinism (Apam) president Boniface Massa welcomed the initiative, describing it as one of the immediate interventions towards the eradication of albino abductions and killings.
He, however, advised the public to be cautious and entertain only those police officers with proper identity cards as some unscrupulous persons might take advantage of the initiative to invade homes of people with albinism in the name of registering them.
Said Massa: “I urge Apam members to support the initiative by collaborating with the police.” n
