RUNDU – The Namibian Police has urged communities living along national borders to work with them to combat crime.
Police stated that most illicit activities happen at ungazetted entry points, including illegal crossing points, especially along the Kavango River and other rivers and cutlines across the country.
Commissioner David Indongo, the head of the border and infrastructure protection directorate, engaged with the media on Sunday to send a message to those breaking the law along these said borders.
He said police are on their trail, and it is only a matter of time before they will be brought to book.
He hinted that many people along the borders commit crimes unknowingly, hence the need to engage and educate them.
“Because some of our people are doing things without knowing that they are committing crime in so many ways, like accommodating people whom they do not know and the visitors are having a plan. In the middle of the night, while everybody is sleeping, they sneak out and attend to their target,” he said.
“Maybe they are targeting your neighbour’s house or their property or animals, because the crime of concern along these Kavango West and Kavango East borders is stock theft. Now, there is a trend of chasing cattle to cross the river into Angola and slaughter them there.
“They bring the carcass into Namibia. Angolans are also slaughtering cattle on their side, and they bring them to sell to Namibia. Our intelligence indicates that the most buyers are our people selling Kapana in Nkurenkuru and Rundu, or for individual consumption,’’ he noted.
He said they will continue conducting border patrols to control illegal acts along the borders.
Apart from stock theft, other crimes along the borders are the push of illicit goods like the contraband of Yes cigarettes and a number of Angolan whiskies and secondhand clothing bales – just to mention a few,’’ he noted.
Indongo said the criminals have advanced in a way that they are aware of police movements, but the police are also advancing their intelligence to curb and counter these crimes along the borderline.
Police have roped in the community to work together to keep communities safe.
He emphasised the need for a good community relationship with law-enforcement for the greater good.
The three-day patrol that the police started on Saturday ended on Monday, and was held to mark the conclusion of the just-ended annual command conference for the border and infrastructure protection directorate.
“We had our annual command conference for the border and infrastructure protection directorate for five days in Rundu. The event comprised all divisional heads and commanders from all 14 regions. The event was held from Monday to Friday. The conference is an annual activity of the Namibian Police,’’ Indongo
said.
“The remaining three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, were set for border patrol… We will also be visiting our members at different border posts and engaging the community to sensitise them on the danger of committing crimes along the borderlines, or elsewhere in the country.
“We want to urge them not to harbour criminals, but to be friends with law enforcement, and provide us with crucial information so that, as the police, we can take appropriate action,’’ he said.