Police 'kidnap' Catholic priest in DR Congo

Police "kidnapped" a Catholic priest yesterday after mass in Kinshasa, witnesses said, amid spiralling tensions between the church and the DR Congo's government over the president's refusal to step down.

"Father Sebastien was taken away by police just after morning mass," a nun of the Saint-Robert parish told AFP in N'sele on the eastern outskirts of the capital.

A police vehicle drew up outside the church, officers jumped out and "started to beat the priest," said another nun who had also witnessed the incident.

"They threw him in the jeep and drove off with him," she said, adding that an unidentified man "filmed the priest" on his mobile phone during mass.

Police refused to comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.

Priest Sebastien Yebo has worked for the parish since August 2017.

The incident comes after a deadly crackdown by the government on Catholic-organised protests against President Joseph Kabila.

At least 15 people have been killed in clashes with security forces at rallies on December 31 and January 21, according to the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO.