The AFC/M23 rebels should quickly move in, fully capture, and secure the entire of Bukavu, the capital of DR Congo’s South Kivu Province, so as to end the ongoing vandalism and looting done by militiamen and criminals, a businessman who fled the chaos that erupted when the government army coalition started fleeing on Friday, February 14, has told The New Times.

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The businessman, and his colleague, are among a number of Bukavu residents who, on Friday, decided to temporarily relocate to neighbouring Rwanda’s Rusizi city as they wait for the situation back to normalise. The AFC/M23 rebels on Friday captured Kavumu airport which is located about 25 kilometres from Bukavu, and raised the hopes of people in Bukavu that "the city would also soon be in safe hands.”

Hours after the capture of Kavumu, videos circulated on social media showing columns of rebel troops entering some suburbs of Bukavu and others showed Congolese and Burundian troops fleeing in the opposite direction. But now, the businessman said, people are worried that things back home are worsening "yet we know the M23 rebels are so close” to the city.

Leon Lubula, an economics student at Université Catholique de Bukavu, was among the group returning home, early in the morning. A regular cross-border trader, Lubula told The New Times that: "I’m not really worried. I’m going home, and if I detect any trouble, I’ll return to Rwanda. I’m not too concerned about M23 because I believe they’re bringing us peace.”

While immigration officers on the Rwandan side were busy processing travellers, the DR Congo side remained empty, and inactive.