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The Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces speaking in a joint pres conference today said that military and police uniforms were stolen by civilians.

They then asked that these uniforms be returned.

They said there has been an increase in crime by people dressed in military uniforms and they mentioned riots in Epworth and Chegutu.

Part of the statement said: “Some of these uniforms worn by criminals were seized by rogue elements during the recent riots in Epworth and Chegutu. A case in point is a recent arrest of five armed robbers in Epworth, Harare on 14 January 2019, who were using police and military regalia to commit armed robberies, after hiring vehicles from car rental companies.

“We are therefore giving an ultimatum to individuals who have retired, deserted, absented themselves without official leave (AWOL) from service to immediately handover uniforms either to the police or the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

“All those who do not comply with this directive will be flushed out by already deployed members of the security services. We are also appealing to members of the public who have information on such people who are not serving members and are abusing military/police regalia to report to the police.”