Man arrested with ‘pirate taxi’ he allegedly stole

Home Crime and Courts Man arrested with ‘pirate taxi’ he allegedly stole

Windhoek

A man in his mid-thirties was arrested after he was found operating a minibus taxi he had hijacked from the owner at knifepoint.

The suspect, Nashidengo Mbwalu, allegedly told City Police officers that he stole the bus and continued driving it as he was tired of poverty.

He claimed he just ‘borrowed’ the taxi.

Mbwalu hijacked the minibus from the owner at the corner of Matshishi and Green Mountain roads in Goreangab at midnight on Saturday.

City Police spokesperson Cillie Auala said the owner went to open a case on Sunday and while on his way home he was told his taxi was seen being driven in town.

Mbwalu was arrested on Sunday afternoon while found looking for customers at the Grove Mall in Kleine Kuppe. There were passengers on board.

“We arrested him and found him operating at Grove Mall. He was busy making money,” said Auala.

Auala added that there are some people who hijack vehicles with further criminal intentions, like stripping the car apart, while others do it out of poverty. “In most cases we find the car abandoned.”

She said the minibus was found in good condition and nothing was taken from it.