Omuthiya: Five escapees still on the run
Police pleads for help from community, families
Within days of their escape, six of the 11 inmates were rearrested.
Police in the Oshikoto Region are still hard at work to trace five inmates who escaped from the Omuthiya police holding cells over three weeks ago.
The escapees were part of a group of 11 individuals who broke out of the holding cells after they managed to make a hole in the wall on 30 August. Within days of their escape, six individuals were rearrested, but it has been weeks and law enforcement has been unsuccessful in tracing the remaining five.
Oshikoto police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Ellen Nehale-Kangulu, pleaded with the community - specifically the families of the wanted persons - to share information with the police in order for them to be rearrested.
The escapees had been detained on various charges ranging from theft, housebreaking and rape to fraud, organised crime and attempted murder.
Lack of photos
Namibian Sun recently reported that the lack of photographs of the escapees has made it difficult for the police to obtain information from community members regarding their whereabouts.
This despite the Namibian Police maintaining that they have a standard internal policy requiring photos to be taken of detained inmates, especially those who have committed serious crimes and are awaiting trial.
Deputy inspector-general for administration, Major General Anne-Marie Nainda, said “the main reason why we [take photos and fingerprints] is so that we make sure that there will be an accurate identification of such a person for future court proceedings, because obviously we cannot keep someone's identity document for that, and also it should be the latest image of a person”.
“If people are going to escape, for example, or they fail to honour their bail conditions or they fail to appear before court, it will be easier for us to circulate those photos and rearrest them or get hold of them,” she added.
However, in reality, some police stations overlook this procedure, making it difficult to trace suspected criminals if they escape from police custody.
Five months ago, the criminal investigation directorate revealed that since 2019, there have been 970 attempted prison escapes. Of these attempts, 690 inmates have been re-apprehended, while 284 remain at large.
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The escapees were part of a group of 11 individuals who broke out of the holding cells after they managed to make a hole in the wall on 30 August. Within days of their escape, six individuals were rearrested, but it has been weeks and law enforcement has been unsuccessful in tracing the remaining five.
Oshikoto police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Ellen Nehale-Kangulu, pleaded with the community - specifically the families of the wanted persons - to share information with the police in order for them to be rearrested.
The escapees had been detained on various charges ranging from theft, housebreaking and rape to fraud, organised crime and attempted murder.
Lack of photos
Namibian Sun recently reported that the lack of photographs of the escapees has made it difficult for the police to obtain information from community members regarding their whereabouts.
This despite the Namibian Police maintaining that they have a standard internal policy requiring photos to be taken of detained inmates, especially those who have committed serious crimes and are awaiting trial.
Deputy inspector-general for administration, Major General Anne-Marie Nainda, said “the main reason why we [take photos and fingerprints] is so that we make sure that there will be an accurate identification of such a person for future court proceedings, because obviously we cannot keep someone's identity document for that, and also it should be the latest image of a person”.
“If people are going to escape, for example, or they fail to honour their bail conditions or they fail to appear before court, it will be easier for us to circulate those photos and rearrest them or get hold of them,” she added.
However, in reality, some police stations overlook this procedure, making it difficult to trace suspected criminals if they escape from police custody.
Five months ago, the criminal investigation directorate revealed that since 2019, there have been 970 attempted prison escapes. Of these attempts, 690 inmates have been re-apprehended, while 284 remain at large.
[email protected]
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