Placido Hilukilwa
TEN suspects were arrested by the police in the Oshana Region after three separate incidents of livestock theft were recorded since Friday.
In one incident, eight suspects were arrested in the Olunkono village near Oshakati during the early morning hours of Monday.
They were allegedly found in possession of carcasses of donkeys which they stole and slaughtered in the floodplains under the cover of darkness.
Of the eight suspects, seven are residents of Olunkono, while one is from the nearby Onangodhi village.
Two are women aged 49 and 51. The remaining six are men aged between 18 and 40.
Two donkey carcasses were recovered each valued at N$1 000.
Another case of livestock theft was reported at Oidiva near Ongwediva on Friday.
Two goats belonging to a 62-year-old Oidiva resident were stolen but the crime was eventually solved, inadvertently, when dogs from a neighbouring house unearthed two goat skins that were positively identified as those of the villager’s missing animals.
A police search led to the discovery of one carcass and the arrest of a 46-year-old woman and her 16-year-old son.
Yet another incident of livestock theft was reported at Ondangwa on Monday.
It is alleged that unknown suspects slaughtered two head-of-cattle in the grazing area, loaded the carcasses in a vehicle and drove off.
The incident occurred at a place called Okadolopa along the Oshikango-Ondangwa main road.
Additional four cattle were hacked on their rear legs but survived.
The animals belonged to an elderly resident of the Okatale village.
The suspects are unknown and the meat was not recovered.
