Windhoek
The matter in which a police officer allegedly shot a student nurse in the suburb of Goreangab in February last year, resulting in the nurse later dying, was remanded to April 1 to enable the accused to enlist the services of a government-funded lawyer.
George Ndemoongela, 24, made his third appearance in the Regional Court in Katutura on Friday where his case was remanded to enable him to obtain legal representation. The matter was referred to the Regional Court in December.
Martha Ilonga, 20, a student nurse was allegedly shot on February 12 last year by members of the police force, in what appears to be a police operation gone wrong.
The police allegedly shot Ilonga – who was studying at the Namibia Health Training Centre in Windhoek – in the head while she was seated in the backseat of a Toyota Corolla sedan. The student nurse was being driven home to Goreangab in Katutura, where she rented a room, family members told New Era after the incident.
The driver of the ill-fated vehicle, Titus Shuuveni, said afterwards that he was escorting Ilonga home with his friend when the friend received a phonecall from someone who wanted them to drive to where he was.
“We went there immediately before dropping off Martha. While driving, my friend told me to stop and then he went towards a white Polo Vivo that was parked alongside the road,” Shuuveni recalled. “My friend told me to get out and go to the Polo also,” Shuuveni told New Era last year. He said a police officer emerged suddenly out of nowhere and handcuffed his friend and ordered them (Shuuveni and Ilonga) to drive off. The police had apparently been lying in ambush in what seemed like a police trap, whereby the Polo Vivo had been used to bait his friend, according to Shuuveni. Apparently, one officer had mistakenly assumed the Corolla was speeding away from the police. The police claim the shooting was not intentional and that the bullet that struck Ilonga in the head was aimed at the sedan’s tyre.
Magistrate Sarel Jacobs presided over the hearing, while Samantha Diergaardt represented the State.