KATIMA MULILO – Police in the Zambezi region on Sunday bungled the arrest of a 22-year-old assailant several weeks after they initially ignored calls by villagers at Tembamuwe to arrest him.
The suspect whose hands were tied behind his back made a dramatic escape from a moving police van.
Police in Zambezi only acted after a complaint was lodged on Sunday with the Inspector-General of the Namibian Police, Sebastian Ndeitunga, but even when they acted, the suspect escaped under their watch.
Tembamuwe, where the fugitive has in the past weeks wreaked untold havoc and terror by threatening to hack to death all the residents of the village is located in a swampy area of Kabbe South Constituency.
Panic-stricken villagers told New Era they opened a case of assault by threatening and of crimen injuria but the police at Ngoma have in recent weeks been claiming they could not drive to Tembamuwe because they did not have transport.
On Saturday the suspect nearly hacked a grade 10 learner to death, who sustained serious injuries while a 63-year-old female pensioner was also injured.
On Sunday afternoon while police dragged their feet and were still undecided whether to respond to appeals by despondent villagers, the same suspect allegedly stabbed a young man in the face.
Tembamuwe village is in the Nankuntwe area and one of the victims reportedly hacked on the hand has been identified as Mbeha while the young man who was stabbed twice in the face has been identified as Siusiku Simasiku.
The suspect was eventually arrested on Sunday night at around 22h00 but he managed to escape from the police vehicle transporting him to Ngoma.
Three armed policemen who went to Tembamuwe tied the arms of the suspect with a rope and bundled him in the back of an open bakkie that was unlocked.
Family spokesman Kluivert Muyoyeta said the three policemen who went to arrest the suspect occupied the front seat, which raises the question why they could not handcuff him and why police chose to transport a “dangerous suspect” in an open bakkie.
Muyoyeta said one of the victims is his brother and the other his cousin, he added that this matter has been reported several weeks ago at Ngoma but nothing was done. When contacted for comment, Ngoma Police’s Station Inspector Shebby Lukopani denied knowing about the matter saying his office only got to know about it on Sunday and that’s when he reacted to the problem and said no case was opened. This is in contradiction to his subordinate Sergeant Mwilima who confirmed on Sunday that a case of crimen injuria and assault by threatening was being investigated.
Lukopani failed to comment on the issue of police officers for not having handcuffed the suspect saying he will launch an investigation into the matter to see if the police acted in a negligent manner and why they failed to re-arrest the suspect who remains at large. But he confirmed the claims of not having a vehicle in that area saying there is a shortage of cars at the police camp in Luhonono, a place that is closer to Nankuntwe. He further said they used an open bakkie because it is a challenge to reach that area because some parts of the road are still wet from floodwater.
He concluded saying that the victims are now at the Katima Mulilo State Hospital receiving medical treatment after police transported them there.
Meanwhile villagers at Tembamuwe still live in fear for their lives as the suspect could again strike.