By Marx Itamalo |
RESIDENTS of informal settlements in the town of Helao Nafidi have accused three police officers from the Oshikango police station of terrorising them by conducting ‘illegal’ late-night searches in their homes mostly targeting those selling Angolan fuel and accusing the trio of demanding bribes from them instead of confiscating the fuel.
Residents informed Omutumwa that this has been going on for about two weeks.
Some residents, who spoke to this newspaper this week on condition of anonymity, and some of whom are involved in the lucrative illegal fuel business, say they have grown tired of being awakened in the wee hours of the night by the three young officers who randomly target their homes and ‘kambashus’ and demand bribes when they find the merchandise instead of confiscating it as per normal procedure.
“There are three police officers who are known to us and are targeting people by going to their houses in the early hours of the morning. They come and knock and identify themselves as members of the Namibian police force but they don’t come when on duty. We believe they are abusing their positions,” a resident of Olunghono settlement told Omutumwa.
According to him, the three police officers always come between three and four o’clock in the morning demanding access to homes and they do brief searches whereby if they find fuel, they would ask how much the seller or dealer is willing to pay for the container.
“They are rogue officers known to us and they are terrorising the residents. They pretend they are on patrol but it’s not true. They don’t come with a vehicle and they don’t even use police torches. They use small Chinese torches,” the resident continued.
This resident said that during normal police searches, there are always a number of vehicles involved, with enough personnel as well as quality lighting from police torches during the night.
Also, he added, one does not need to doubt the authenticity of the operation or search as officers are always loud and their knocks are loud. This is in stark contrast to the method used by the accused three officers.
One fuel vendor told this publication telephonically that he was awakened at 03h45 on Wednesday morning in Omushabwa location by the three officers.
“They smelled fuel in my shack and came to wake us. I had a number of containers in and they asked me how much I am willing to pay them before they can call their colleagues to come and confiscate it.
“Of course I gave them something in order to save my stock,” he stressed refusing to reveal how much was the bribe he paid. He pointed out he later learned it was a fake operation.
Oshikango settlement in Helao Nafidi town has become a hub for oil sourced illegally from neighbouring Angola. Vendors cheaply buy oil from Angola and sell it profitably to consumers inside Namibia.
Hordes of vehicle owners flock to the town to fill up their vehicles. They claim it saves them some dollars in comparison to fueling at Namibian fuel stations.
The oil vendors have told this publication that they were making a living on selling the oil. Some have allegedly left their low paying jobs to join the industry.
“The fuel is paying much better than what I used to do. Although it’s risky, it’s worth it,” Jonas Ndevahoma told this publication.
One source with an intimate knowledge of Namibia-Angola cross border operations says the Namibian-Angolan border area is a place that no police officer would ever want to leave once they get deployed there owing to the many illegal and under the table activities taking place there.
“No clever police officer will ever go hungry here. They can survive on bribes, confiscated items and even on money paid to them to help contraband pass smoothly through the border,” the source who is close to many Namibian and Angolan border police officers stressed.
In the photo: The Oshikango Police Station.
