Walvis Bay
A group of Zimbabwean nationals was detained and questioned over the weekend by the Walvis Bay police after they were found in a very secluded area in the dunes.
The group, that consisted of three women and 16 men, was allegedly conducting some strange religious rituals in the dunes on Thursday around 00h00, about a kilometre from the road that leads to Dune 7 and the airport.
It is not clear whether this group were part of the 42 foreigners arrested last year in Windhoek during a joint operation by police and immigration officials that targeted foreign-owned churches in Windhoek.
According to the Namibian Police Unit Commander for Community Affairs, Sergeant Iileni Shapumba, the police were notified by residents about strange noises coming from the vicinity and went to inspect and found the group gathered around a huge fire.
“We found the men and three women all dressed in long white gowns and sitting around a fire.
“When we questioned them they said that they were busy fasting and praying. We also found some of them sleeping on boxes.”
According to him the men and the women were separate from each other. “It appears as if the people were hiding – some were apparently fasting while others were sleeping or praying.
“We had to remove them as they disturbed our residents,” he explained.
According to Shapumba, 13 of the Zimbabweans were released already while seven were still being detained. “Some of them have overstayed and some of them don’t even have valid documents and we had to notify immigration so that they deal with them,” said Shapumba.
Shapumba added that such occurrences and strange rituals conducted in the region are on the increase.
“Residents are worried about these happenings as they are being conducted in such a way that they are noting them.
“We have appealed on numerous occasions to people not to conduct such gatherings close to residential areas, but it seems our pleas fall on deaf ears.”
Shapumba said that the police in Erongo are taking part in Operation Omake that was also rolled out to the region and are busy patrolling and inspecting problem areas.