Half naked man in robbery ordeal

By Danisa Masuku

A GANG of three armed robbers pounced on a shop assistant at Maboleni Business Centre, demanded cash before force-marching him half-naked to the owner’s place at Maboleni High School.

Midlands police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said she had not yet received the information as she was at the Midlands Agricultural Show. However, Maboleni village head Mr Abednico Badlundu said they were now living in fear as cases of robbery were on the increase in the area.

“We are living in fear of these robbers who continuously terrorise our community, they attacked a shop assistant before force-marching him half-naked from the shop to Maboleni High School. A fortnight ago they raped a female teacher and attacked a headmaster at another school.

As community leaders we are worried that there have been no arrests in all the reported cases,” said Mr Badlundu.

The victim, Mr Andrew Tembo, who is a shop assistant at Zibonele shop which is owned by Mr Samson Jambaya, a teacher based at Maboleni High School, told Sunday News that the three robbers who attacked him were armed with a chisel, crowbar and a knife.

“They found me alone, sleeping. They asked for cash but I told them there was nothing. They then searched the whole house before taking turns to hit me with open hands,” said Mr Tembo.
He said the robbers then demanded to see the shop owner (Jambaya) and that is when they force-marched him to the school.

“They were threatening to kill me if I resisted. They force-marched me to Maboleni High School while I was only wearing a short,” he said.

Mr Tembo said when they arrived at the school, one of the gang members instructed him to knock at the door.

“When Jambaya saw that there were three men and I was partly naked he sensed danger and that is when he pretended to ask for his gun resulting in the robbers fleeing,” he said.

Newly elected Vungu legislator Cde Omega Sibanda said he was worried by increased reports of armed robberies in the area.We are extremely worried by the rising cases of crime in the area that range from armed robbery to murder.

As a way of solving that we are in the process of engaging the ZRP so that we revive village constabulary police who will conduct patrols in every village and effect arrest on any suspicious person,” he said.

Cases of armed robbery are on the increase in the area, a fortnight ago a teacher at the same school was hijacked by two robbers near Maboleni who hit him with an iron bar and left him unconscious. In another incident that took place in the same area a man was murdered while another was pummelled all over the body and left in a pool of blood. Sunday News.