WINDHOEK – Police in Omusati Region have observed that many Angolan nationals employed in northern Namibian have developed a habit of committing crimes and then flee back to their country, making it difficult for police to apprehend them.
The Omusati Regional Police crime investigations coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Moses Simaho, said this on Wednesday while narrating to New Era an incident wherein an Angolan suspect allegedly stabbed another man over a cellphone on Tuesday evening before trying to cross into Angola.
The regional crime coordinator said although police were hard at work to hunt down the suspect, it took them the whole day to apprehend him just as he was about to cross into his country of birth.
“I am telling you that our people are now employing these foreigners as domestic workers who have now resorted to committing crimes knowing that they will flee to their country afterwards. And once they are gone it is hard for law enforcement to go there (in Angola) to hunt them down and for them to be prosecuted,” he said, very much dismayed.
The latest incident occurred at Oshikwawo location in Iikokola village of Tsandi Constituency.
It is alleged that the suspect and victim were arguing over the cellphone and the suspect twice stabbed the victim with an okapi knife in his left ribs.
According to Simaho, the victim sustained serious injuries and he was admitted to Oshakati State Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).
The victim is identified as Iitondoka Linus Alugongo, a Namibian male who resides at Iikokola village. The suspect was expected to appear in the Okahao Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Police hope he does not get bail because of the high risk to abscond.
He added that the condition of the victim is very serious and a case of attempted murder is being investigated.
In a separate incident, a 33-year-old man drowned in an earth dam at Oshiteyatemo village in Okalongo Constituency. The victim was trying to cross the dam by swimming but got tired before he could reach the other end, Simaho said.
The body of the victim – who has been identified as Iipinge Shilengifa – was recovered and his next of kin have been informed.