OMATANDO – A mob of community members from Omatando village in Ongwediva yesterday assaulted and apprehended a man who allegedly robbed a student of her smartphone and threatened to stab her with a knife. The incident happened around 12h00 near Onambiba location. By the time the police arrived at the scene, the 33-year-old man was already tied up with palm leaves and he was also bleeding from the mouth and had slight injuries on his body. The suspect has since been arrested and he is due to appear in magistrate’s court today. According to the 20-year-old victim, she was on her way to IUM Ongwediva where she is a student. “The suspect attacked me. He said he will kill me if I don’t give him my phone. He asked if I have money,” she narrated. Hambiya stressed that after she was knife pointed, she handed over her phone and then screamed. “I had no choice. Luckily, one woman who was not far from us picked up a stone and hit him. Other community members also rushed to rescue me. They chased him, caught him and beat him with sticks. By then he had already thrown away my phone, not far from where he found me,” she said.  Hambiya added that she usually sees thieves on her way to school, grabbing people’s phones in the same area. “Students, we are no longer safe. We lose our laptops and cell phones,” she added. She urged her fellow students to be more vigilant whenever walking alone to school because the area is unsafe. Community members from Omatando said stock theft is also high in the area. “We lost our goats. Housebreaking always take place in this area. This area has become a place for criminals,” said a resident. They asked that the State not grant bail to the suspect because he might commit a similar crime immediately after he comes out.  - fhamalwa@nepc.com.na