Police end Oshana gang's reign of terror

HAIYANDJA PLACIDO HILUKILWA

The Namibian police in Oshana Region have dismantled a suspected gang that was terrorising residents of the Iilagati village in Okaku Constituency over the past few days.
Seven suspected gang members were arrested, including the alleged leader, who has a murder case pending against him in Windhoek.
Although the gang was mainly active at Ohaiyandja shebeens, committing sporadic acts of violence against residents over the past few days, it went on rampage on Sunday afternoon, assaulting villagers with sticks and attacking them with pangas, destroying business and personal property and generally creating an atmosphere of fear and mayhem in the area.
According to the village headman Johannes Shimwandi, gang members started attacking people on Sunday afternoon, selecting members of the Women and Men Network Against Crime as priority targets, who they
accused of being an irritation.
Shimwandi said at least five people were assaulted, while two men were attacked with pangas and sustained serious head injuries. One of them is still interned in the hospital, said Shimwandi.
A strong police contingent, commanded by the most senior officers in the region, was deployed to the area Monday morning. They scored immediate success, with the arrest of seven gang members and a suspect who allegedly supplied the gang with marijuana.
The suspected marijuana dealer was arrested at Ongha village in the Ohangwena Region and was handed over to that region's law enforcement officers.
We have arrested them, demonstrating once again that criminals have nowhere to hide in Oshana Region. We have done our part and will now charge them and hand them over to the courts to do what remains to be done, said Oshana police Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, who personally led the operation.
He was assisted by chief inspectors Karel Theron and Moses Kashala.
The massive deployment and incessant movement of police vehicles caused curious residents to assemble at shebeens in the area and Kashihakumwa used the opportunity to address them.
Namibia is a free country. We will never allow criminal gangs to deprive our people of their hard-won freedom, he said.
He thanked residents for their co-operation and urged them to continue giving the necessary assistance to the Women and Men Network Against Crime.