Windhoek learners hijack taxi

The boys had apparently removed the number plates, taxi identification number and sign and put on fake number plates.

The boys, aged 15 and 17, boarded a taxi on Saturday afternoon from Khomasdal to 7de Laan behind Otjomuise. Namibian Sun learnt that when they arrived in Otjomuise one the boy’s held the taxi driver at gunpoint. The taxi driver got out of the car and ran off. One of the boys fired three shots at him but missed. The firearm has not been recovered.

A source told Namibian Sun that on Wednesday after school one of the boys went to buy fuel after the vehicle ran dry, leaving his accomplice and a female learner at the Rocky Crest road. An acquaintance of the taxi driver saw the vehicle in Rocky Crest and alerted the taxi driver, who is also the owner of the taxi.

The source said when the boys saw someone approaching them they quickly filled up the car with fuel and fled the scene. The taxi owner followed them.

“While they tried to escape they bumped into a gate somewhere in Khomasdal.
The street made a sharp curve and there was also a truck from which stuff was being offloaded in the way. The boys got out of the car and ran off - leaving the female learner in the car,” said the source.

The police also found four schoolbags in the boot from which they could determine the bags’ owners and where they go to school.

“The concern is: where are the parents when the children came home with a car. It shows that parents have no control over children,” said Senior Superintendent of the City Police and Emergency Management Department Gerry Shikesho.

Deputy Commissioner Sylvanus Nghishidimbwa, Khomas Region Crime Investigation Co-ordinator, said the police were still looking for the boys yesterday. He said the police know where they stay and where they go to school.

Namibian Sun also learnt from another source that since the boys are minors, the police are in fact waiting for the parents to take the boys to the police themselves before the police take action.