By Marx Itamalo /
A gang of hard core criminals is said to be operating in Oshikango, robbing locals and even visitors such as tourists.
According to several sources, the gang operates near the border post in the town and often robs people at gun point.
Some incidents are said to have happened in full view of police and border officials.
The latest incident happened last week and involved an Angolan journalist who was allegedly robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash and work equipment.
A source at Oshikango told Omutumwa this week that the gang consists of well-known criminals including a former border police officer.
“These guys are robbing people of their properties and cash, especially at the border and they appear to be untouchable. The police know them but I don’t understand why they don’t arrest them,” the source said.
The source, who works in a local furniture retailer said that, last week, the journalist had just left their shop and before he could get into his car, two members of the gang pounded on him, dropped him to the ground and grabbed his back pack as well as his wallet.
“The incident happened in full view of shoppers and passersby but no one assisted. The police came later but the thieves had vanished already in their car. We only learnt later that apart from his work equipment, the guy also had a lot of US dollars on him. Maybe they had been following him,” he stressed adding the victim did not buy any item in the furniture shop but only did some window shopping.
Another resident of Oshikango, Junias Namutewa, whom Omutumwa spoke to indicated that the gang members are known in the town but are feared.
“One of them comes from a prominent family around. Normally they operate like con men, mostly targeting unsuspecting Angolan businessmen by posing as legitimate Namibian businessmen who want to sell something like a plot in Oshikango or a car.
“They drive different cars and their victims in most cases would not suspect anything until they lose their money.
“However, if they happen to realise their victim is not cooperating or is getting wind of their operation, they use force and violence and can rob the person,” Namutewa indicated.
Namutewa recalls an incident in January where an Angolan businessman was robbed of a large sum of money at a local guest house where a business transaction was allegedly taking place.
“The men pretended they were selling a big plot behind the Helao Nafidi expo. They took him there to show him the place and the victim was interested in it.
“Later, they drove to the guest house for further discussions and to complete the paper work. The guy had money on him and that’s how he was robbed.”
Omutumwa could not obtain comment from the Oshikango police head as his phone was off.
The officer responsible for community affairs in Ohangwena, inspector Andreas Nghiyolwa, told Omutumwa this week he was not aware of the gang and their activities.
He also indicated that the two incidents were not reported to his office. However, Nghiyolwa castigated members of the public for failing to cooperate with the police in efforts to apprehend criminals who are terrorising community members.
“What you have to remember is that we have scenarios where the public know the people committing crime but they don’t report them to the police,” Nghiyolwa said.
“Members of the public can even witness a crime being committed but when the police come for information, people do not want to cooperate. How will the police assist in this regard? A criminal can be a known individual, but sometimes people don’t want to mention that person. It makes our (police) work difficult.”
Nghiyolwa also stressed that members of the public can always record criminal activities with their mobile phones and the police can take leads from the footage.
“If you see a crime being committed, you can record with your phone and hand the footage to the police. The police will search for the culprit in that area until the person is arrested,” he advised.
With regard to an ex-police officer being part of a criminal gang, he stated that the individual would be treated like any other criminal when arrested as he is no longer part of the police force.
He stressed that the Ohangwena police conducts operations from time to time in order to enhance security, prevent and combat crime.
In the photo: Oshikango, which is the commercial part of the border town of Helao Nafidi, is a hive of activity, which includes criminal activity too.
