By: Hertha Ekandjo

Oshana police spokesperson inspector Thomas Aiyambo says the police only discovered that there were eight inmates missing after a roll call.

The eight inmates allegedly escaped from the Ondangwa police holding cells on Sunday evening in the Oshana region.

These inmates who are now on the run are considered dangerous and should be reported to the nearest police station if traced.

“They are very dangerous criminals, as they were arrested in line with serious crimes such as murder, housebreaking, rape and domestic violence,” he said.

According to Aiyambo, these inmates are not only Namibian nationals, but some are Angolan nationals.

“The escapees were four Namibians and four Angolans. The eight escapees were identified as Shinedima Stefanus (28), Teofelus Nauyoma (40), Zize Tjipito (23), Micheal Andreas (22), Fernando Rosalio (21), Dinu Tjipito (20), Nashilongo Gideon (27) and John Pedro (22).”

He thus cautioned the public not to try and arrest them if spotted but to report them to their nearest police station.

“These criminals are not in possession of any identification documents, as their identification documents have been confiscated from them by the police upon their arrest,” he added.

He told The Villager that the eight inmates worked together to escape.

Aiyambo further said at the moment, no re-arrest has been made, and they are still on the run.

“Some of them were said to have been spotted close to Oshikango, and the police are not sure if it is true or not,” he told The Villager.

He said they believe that the escapees will try to leave the country and cross the borders into Angola, as some of their companions are Angolans and might know shortcuts into Angola.

Aiyambo said that professional builders built their prisons to ensure that inmates don’t escape from their cells.

“We don’t know what they have used to cut the burglar welded at the entrances within the cells and the roof that they escaped through. We don’t know what object they used to cut the iron to escape.”

This is the third known escape of the year. Earlier this month, a similar incident occurred in Windhoek, where 36-year-old Simon Noppie Kambindu escaped the Windhoek correctional facility on a Sunday morning.

At that time, deputy commissioner-general of the Namibian Correctional Services (NCS) Sam Shaalulange had said Kambindu escaped the facility from unit four by climbing the facility wall.

On 08 March 2022, an inmate was said to have escaped police custody at the Gibeon police station after he and two other inmates assaulted a police officer, bit him on the hand, and tied his legs.

This happened when the officer on duty went alone to the holding cells to allow the inmates to collect their laundry from the washing line.

Another incident was reported in November 2019, where 12 inmates escaped the Menias Brian Libuto police station’s holding cell in Kongola, Zambezi Region. This escape happened after the inmates overpowered the officer who was on duty.

Adding to the list is the 2020 April prison break that happened at the Divundu Correctional Facility.

This was said to have occurred after four inmates overpowered an officer, took the keys to the cell, jumped the facility and fled.