Three community leaders have been murdered and 50 houses destroyed in Cabo Delgado province, due to a wave of misinformation about the causes of cholera, reports Jornal a Carta in a report published on Wednesday.

In all, according to the same source, there are 14 incidents resulting from misinformation about cholera in five districts of Cabo Delgado (Montepuez, Chiure, Ancuabe, Namuno and Balama).

Citing local authorities, the newspaper says that most of the cholera riots were led by people calling themselves

The Naparamas, the authorities say, led violent demonstrations in which the victims were community leaders, health workers and police officers.

At a meeting in the provincial capital, Pemba, earlier this month, Cabo Delgado's Secretary of State, António Supeia, called for reflection on the current role of the naparamas and their aggressive attitude.

Participants at the meeting expressed concern that the naparamas would become another hotbed of insecurity in the province unless urgent action was taken.

"At first, the naparamas were welcome," said one of the participants, quoted by the newspaper, "but now we see that they are a serious problem against our government."

"We can't tolerate this situation, because tomorrow it could create more misfortune for our province," added another participant.

Supeia said that the naparamas "confront the state when they attack police officers and community leaders and prevent assistance from reaching the public".

"We already have other problems, like people being attacked by terrorists," he added. "Community leaders are mobilizing the public to fight terrorism and we don't want another form of terror to emerge."