Law enforcement fires live ammunition to deter young people protesting against growing insecurity and against the entry of Rwandan police into the country. Since 4 o'clock, protesters were already in the streets at the Bongombé entrance, where they set up barricades.

On the Mutinga–Majengo-Bon Voyage road axis, panic reigns despite the presence of police elements. In Buhene, a hot spot in Nyiragongo territory, tear gas is used by law enforcement to disperse protesters. In front of the MONUSCO logistics base, dozens of young people barricaded the campus-lake-provincial governorate section.

Read: DRC: civil society organizations call for city shutdown in Goma

Authorities reassure

" This rumor about the presence of Rwandan police in Goma exists only in the imagination of peddlers of illusions. Let the youth of North Kivu not fall into the trap of these agitators." declared General Ekenge Efomi Bomusa principal adviser and spokesperson for the military governor of North Kivu province during a press briefing organized on Monday, December 20 in Goma.

Sunday evening the mayor of the city of Goma also called on the population to freely go about their occupations. The situation remains unclear at present; shops, stores, supermarkets, and offices are closed. Owners fear for the security of their belongings given the scale this protest is taking.
Also read: "City shutdown" and protest in Goma (DRC) against crime: one police officer killed

Augustin Sadiki