Goat 'poisonings' rock villages
According to an eyewitness, an unknown man entered an oshana and started applying the suspected poison to freshly germinated grass on Sunday.
Police and traditional authority leaders at Ohangwena are investigating the suspected poisoning of 21 goats at Engela and Eeshoke.
According to Engela village headman Ndjeimo Popyeinawa an unknown man applied what is suspected to be poison on the grass in an oshana situated between the two villages. The 21 goats that fed on the grass belong to four households who lost two, four, four and 11 animals, respectively. Popyeinawa said following the recent rainfall in the north, many goats are feeding on the grass in and around oshanas and the perpetrator took advantage of the situation.
“According to an eyewitness, a man in a sedan went into the oshana with a big sack and started applying what the witness thought was animal fodder on the just-germinated grass.
“It is reported that after a while the goats were spotted dead in the same oshana on Sunday. Other dead goats were spotted on Monday,” Popyeinawa said.
“People then started suspecting that the person who was spotted in the oshana was applying poison and not fodder. They informed the police, who arrived on Monday and started investigating. Luckily none of the goat owners consumed the meat and some have burned the carcasses.”
Popyeinawa said they do not understand why someone would do such a thing, given the current drought situation, which has knocked Namibian families severely. He urged residents of the two villages not to consume the goat meat, as the cause of death was still unknown.
He said they should report any further animal deaths to the police or the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority.
Ohangwena police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Abner Kaume Itumba, said his officers in the field had so far not reported back on the incident.
ILENI NANDJATO
According to Engela village headman Ndjeimo Popyeinawa an unknown man applied what is suspected to be poison on the grass in an oshana situated between the two villages. The 21 goats that fed on the grass belong to four households who lost two, four, four and 11 animals, respectively. Popyeinawa said following the recent rainfall in the north, many goats are feeding on the grass in and around oshanas and the perpetrator took advantage of the situation.
“According to an eyewitness, a man in a sedan went into the oshana with a big sack and started applying what the witness thought was animal fodder on the just-germinated grass.
“It is reported that after a while the goats were spotted dead in the same oshana on Sunday. Other dead goats were spotted on Monday,” Popyeinawa said.
“People then started suspecting that the person who was spotted in the oshana was applying poison and not fodder. They informed the police, who arrived on Monday and started investigating. Luckily none of the goat owners consumed the meat and some have burned the carcasses.”
Popyeinawa said they do not understand why someone would do such a thing, given the current drought situation, which has knocked Namibian families severely. He urged residents of the two villages not to consume the goat meat, as the cause of death was still unknown.
He said they should report any further animal deaths to the police or the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority.
Ohangwena police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Abner Kaume Itumba, said his officers in the field had so far not reported back on the incident.
ILENI NANDJATO
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