Oshana NamPol hands over stolen livestock to owners

NAMPA

OSHAKATI, 15 Mar.  – The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in the Oshana Region on Thursday handed over 12 stolen cattle recovered from a farm in the Oshikoto Region between February and March this year.

NamPol Commander in Oshana Region, Commissioner Rauha Amwele handed over the cattle to the owners in the presence of other senior NamPol officials.

The livestock, which includes five calves, has a combined value of N.dollars 59 000.
Amwele said the livestock was recovered from a farm belonging to Gideon Abner in the Oshikoto Region’s Ohainghete area, allegedly brought there by Oshana Swapo Party Coordinator, Samuel Nelongo, who was arrested last month on stock theft charges.

According to Amwele, Nelongo is facing four counts of stock theft and is accused of stealing the cattle from the Oshana Region before transferring them to Ohainghete, where he shares a farm with Abner.
“Abner could not be linked to the theft, as there is no proof of his involvement was brought forward, “Amwele noted.

The total number of cattle suspected to have been stolen by Nelongo remains unknown, as Amwele also pointed out that the whereabouts of three cattle found at that farm on 12 February are currently not known.

“There were also two other cattle that were found with the accused person but the (rightful) owner do not want to lay criminal charges against the accused person,” said Amwele.

She indicated that NamPol handed over the cattle to the owners because it has no appropriate place to keep them until the court case against Nelongo is finalised.

One of the farmers, Tomas Gabriel from Okalunga Kantako, told the media at the handover that he lost four cattle last year and only two of them are among those recovered by the police.
Another farmer, Alfeus Johannes said he lost 15 cattle in 2015 and five of them, with their new-born calves, are amongst the livestock recovered.

“We are thankful to the police for recovering our cattle; keep up the good work,” narrated the farmers.
Nelongo was first arrested on 11 February this year on a charge of livestock theft and was re-arrested on another charge of livestock theft on 05 March.

He appeared in the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court on 13 February after his first arrest, where he was granted bail of N.dollars 2 500 and his case was postponed to 09 April this year. – (NAMPA) NN/HP/ND