Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place:
for all they
that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Matthew 26:52
"At least six people have been killed
and 35 wounded in clashes in northern Burundi between police and a Catholic
sect, an official has said.
The violence broke out after police tried to block followers of 30-year-old Zebiya Ngendakumana from praying in Kayanza region, the official added.
Ms Ngendakumana says she sees visions of the Virgin Mary on the 12th day of each month.
The authorities are worried her sect could threaten public order.
The sect, formed more than a year ago, has developed a following across the country and in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kayanza Governor Athanase Mbonabuca said hundreds of sect members, some "armed with clubs and stones", resisted police attempts to prevent them from meeting on a hilltop on Tuesday, the day Zebiya Ngendakumana said she would see her visions, AFP news agency reports.
'Sanctuary destroyed'
"There were violent clashes. At least six people are dead and 35 wounded," he is quoted as saying.
All the dead are believed to be followers of Ms Ngendakumana, with four policemen seriously wounded, AFP reports.
 |
| Ngendakumana |
Last year, police destroyed a sanctuary of the sect in Kayanza - its stronghold - and its followers retaliated by breaking up a Sunday service at a local Catholic church, she says.
Most Burundians are Catholic and the official church has distanced itself from the sect." BBC
"On her part, Ngendakumana says she began seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary 20 years ago.
"It was before I turned 10. I went outdoors during the night and saw a light that was almost blinding. I then saw a white lady, a crown on her head. She was above the terrestrial globe," she said in a recent interview with Iwacu, a local paper.
She says she continued seeing the apparition from then, but it was not until 1996 that she "saw Jesus" as well.
The one-time farmer has so far been to neighbouring Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia on a crusade about her visions." TheAfricaReport
