Tension is mounting at Foley Village following the mysterious disappearance of a four-year-old boy.
The house belonging to one of the residents is already under police guard after a mob threatened to burn it down.
Police say they are ready on the ground should riots erupt.
“We are appealing to the members of the public to forward any little information that could lead to the whereabouts of the little boy,” said Akanyang Mosiwa, the uncle of the disappeared boy.
He said the little boy was with his elders when he went missing on the 3rd of this month. They were collecting firewood from nearby.
Mosiwa said that after his disappearance on that day the matter was reported to the police and both villagers and the police formed a search team that tracked his foot prints.
“It is now more than two weeks since his disappearance but nothing is fourth coming,” he said, adding that the family is really heartbroken about what happened to their child. He said they are, however, hopeful that they will find the boy.
“Our prayer is to find the boy alive,” he said.
The Station Commander of Serule Police Station, Superintendent Goitsemang Mokgatle, said, “My officers are ready on the ground to prevent any situation that might occur following the disappearance of the child.”
He said a search team has been formed and some of the police officers were pulled from Selibi-Phikwe and Francistown to intensify the search.
Mokgatle added that a police helicopter was also called in to assist during the search but even today the boy has not been found.
“We have not yet given up even though the chances of finding him are becoming slim because his footprints have disappeared due to weather conditions.”
The headman of Foley Village, Olebile Khumo, said, “The situation nearly went out of control but fortunately the police managed to avert the situation after one of the residents was accused of knowing the whereabouts of the missing child.”
He said although this is the first incident, he is grateful about the fact that since his disappearance, the public has joined the search team in large numbers to look for the child.
He warned the residents of Foley to resist accusing people of wrong doing if they do not have sufficient evidence because, he said, doing so will divide the village.
“If anybody has information about the whereabouts of the child, they should forward it to the police,” he said.
