By Nuusita Ashipala
ONGWEDIVA – The Oshana Police claimed victory on Wednesday night when they arrested a man believed to have taken part in a violent armed robbery that left one robber dead and two fugitives on the run.
Chris Oosthuizen who was visiting his family-in-law from the UK got the shock of his life when he was attacked from behind and handcuffed by unknown men when he got home that Wednesday evening.
According to the owner of the house Michael Oosthuizen of Erongo Commercial Vehicles company near Ongwediva he stopped at a filling station to fuel his car while his son-in-law proceeded home.
“When he got home he opened the gate but was suddenly attacked by four unknown men,” narrated Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen related the suspects handcuffed Chris before they pulled him in the room and covered him with a blanket.
“Minutes later I arrived and when I entered through the safety door I too was also attacked by unknown men. I could not see their faces because they wore masks and gloves,” disclosed Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen said the suspects’ attempt to handcuff his arms and legs together proved a bit futile because he wrestled back.
“While trying to handcuff me, the suspects repeatedly asked, ‘Waar is jou vrou, waar is die geld?’ (Where is your wife, where is the money) and I repeatedly answered that I did not know where my wife was and I didn’t have money. They repeatedly responded that I was lying,” said Oosthuizen.
The suspects allegedly searched his pockets and kicked him a few times on the head before they also covered him with a jacket.
Oosthuizen in an interview with New Era jokingly said the robbers should have taken part in the World Cup because they were good in kicking.
Oosthuizen moreover related that when they left him he reached for his cellphone in his pocket and called his wife to warn her not to come home and to inform the police. However by then the neighbours had also already responded to the noise by calling the police and firing warning shots through their windows.
“When I called my wife she was already at the gate, so she locked the gate and took off and I went to assist Chris whom I could hear making sounds from a room in the house,” said Oosthuizen.
The neighbours who stared from the windows of their homes after hearing the suspicious movements fired more warning shots to scare the suspects.
In an attempt to flee the scene one of the gunshots hit one of the robbers in the buttocks and he died on the way to hospital.
Another of the robbers was apprehended while the other two fled the scene, however, the commander of the Oshana Regional Police, Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, confirmed one of the two suspects who fled the scene was apprehended on Thursday afternoon. The owner of the house said the suspects did not manage to take anything from the house apart from a set of house keys.
Shocked neighbours related that they were forced to lie low because of bullets that zipped past.
One neighbor applauded the Oshana Regional Police for their quick response.
The deceased was identified as 40-year-old Junias Paulus Ndeiweda, from Ohakweenyanga in Ongwediva.