Wilungula, 39, was gunned down near his home in Goma, North Kivu province, while returning home from a local conference on environmental protection, local journalists told CPJ. Wilungula was covering the conference as a freelance photojournalist. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen were wearing military uniforms and fled the scene with the journalist’s digital camera, leaving behind 13,000 Congolese francs (US$30) and a mobile phone.
Local press freedom groups Journaliste en Danger, the Congolese Press Union, and Goma’s association of photographers said they were investigating possible motives.
Wilungula had distinguished himself from other, mostly commercial, photographers in Goma, with his focus on photojournalism, contributing to several local publications, said César Balume, the president of Goma’s association of photographers. He had been the official photographer of former North Kivu governor Eugene Serufuli.