'Cops used my son'

The death and funeral of 34-year-old Sackeus 'Kablou' Amateta has opened a can of worms, with his mother alleging police officers used to fetch him at her home at night to commit crimes. Johanna Nekwiyu-Amateta exposed during memorial and funeral services at the weekend that some police officers had acted in cahoots with her son when he was involved in criminal activities. Kablou was laid to rest at his home village of Engoyi near Onyaanya in the Oshikoto Region on Saturday. There was chaos at the funeral, when a group of his friends, believed to be from Windhoek went on a shooting and car spinning spree at the cemetery. Nekwiyu-Amateta said she does not understand why the police shot her son dead, claiming they were his friends and worked together. “I noticed that Sackeus had many friends including Nampol members who were collaborating with him. Many times I woke up in the middle of the night hearing strange movements and I saw Nampol members knocking at his window to come and fetch him to go commit crimes,” Nekwiyu-Amateta said. She said she used to chase them away, telling the cops: “You come to fetch my son to go and commit criminal activities, but when the deal goes sour you again come and arrest him while you are clean at your workplaces, working for your families. “When this shooting happened I was shocked that how can police shoot him, if they were his accomplices? Now my son has lost his life in this criminality and it disheartened me.” Kablou was gunned down by the police last Sunday at about 18:30 at a bar in Wanaheda, while he allegedly attempted to stab a police officer with a knife. Two Windhoek police officers are being investigated over his death, which followed an incident in which a tourist was robbed earlier on the same day in Klein Windhoek. A post-mortem is being conducted to determine how many times Kablou was shot. Police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga said he heard about the remarks made by Kablou's mother over the weekend and would investigate her claims. “I got the statement of her remarks at the funeral, but I do not remember her reporting any cases of police officers collaborating with her son to commit crimes. We will follow this up to find out the truth,” Ndeitunga said. He added the police are also trying to ascertain whether some officers had expressed sympathy over Kablou's death. “We will find out the role that they have been playing, because we might have criminals in police uniforms. I am informed that some of them were sending messages through Facebook. “We are trying by all means to identify them and I will deal with them.” “I think they have been misplaced and do not belong in Nampol,” he said. The police are also probing the public discharging of firearms during the funeral. It is believed the funeral and memorial services were attended by many of Kablou's friends and family from Windhoek. The slain alleged gangster is believed to be well-known kingpin, who masterminded various notorious criminal activities committed in Windhoek and surrounding areas for many years. Oshikoto regional police commander, Commissioner Armas Shivute, told Namibian Sun the police were at the Engoyi cemetery following the public shooting reports and several roadblocks were set up. “I received a report there was shooting at the cemetery and I sent Nampol members. When they went there they already found everything done. They started with investigations and they saw the cars that mourners were driving in. According to the information we received, the shooting was done by friends, as a way of sending off their leader and appointing a replacement for him,” Shivute said. Ndeitunga also confirmed he was informed about the shooting and gave instructions on how the situation should be handled. Last week Nampol released a statement following various threatening messages, which claimed that members of the public and the police would be targeted by Kablou's associates, in a bid to exact revenge. The public was discouraged from circulating the threats, which may cause fear and panic. The police said they will decisively deal with whoever disrupts or causes any violence in society. The late Kablou grew up with his parents in Windhoek's Freedomland. Until his death he was still living in his mother's house. His father Thomas Amateta died last October. He started his schooling at Moses van der Byl Primary School and continued his secondary education at Immanuel Shifidi Senior Secondary School, where he dropped out in grade 9. According to his mother, he started stealing at the age of 12 and several efforts to rehabilitate and assist him failed. He is survived by his mother, five siblings and a son.ILENI NANDJATO

'Cops used my son'

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-30

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'Cops used my son'

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-30

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