Maria Amakali
Windhoek-The Namibian police are seeking the public’s assistance in tracing two people who robbed a pensioner and his spouse of their hard-earned money.
The 60-year-old retired police officer was walking home with his wife on Wednesday when two men grabbed a bag that from them containing cash in the amount of N$35,000.
Chief Inspector Kauna Shikwambi said the couple was walking from Nored offices in Ohangwena Region after having withdrawn an amount of N$60,000 from the bank. They allegedly paid N$25,000 towards their electricity bill at Nored and after the payment was complete the couple started walking home.
The pensioner and his spouse were walking when a sedan pulled over in front of them along the road. Two men reportedly jumped out of the sedan before it drove off in haste, according to the police.
The two men are said to have grabbed the bag containing N$35,000 and ran for a distance. The same sedan that dropped them off then picked up the robbers. The incident took place behind Ponhofi Secondary School in Ohangwena Region.
It is still unclear how the robbers knew that the couple was carrying a large sum of money, as the robbers were unknown to the victims. The suspects are yet to be arrested.
According to the police, they have picked up there is an increasing trend whereby banking clients have become targets for robbers in Ohangwena. They say the robbers tend to follow people who have withdrawn large sums of money from the bank.
In an unrelated incident an unknown man was attempting to smuggle drugs into Namibia on Thursday when he was detected by the police.
“The suspect, who was about to cross the Namibia-Angola border, dropped a bag containing 5.2 kg of cannabis, valued at N$15,000, into a water dam after he spotted the Namibian police border patrol guards trying to stop him,” Shikwambi explained.
The suspect fired two shots in the direction of the patrol guards before running back to Angola. The incident took place near Okatwitwi location on the eastern side of Oshikango border post. The suspect has not yet been arrested and police investigations are said to be ongoing.