Avid’s Josea gets death threat

FORMER Namangol Investments CEO Nico Josea, one of seven accused in the alleged N$30 million Avid fraud case, has reported receiving a death threat via SMS.

Josea said he received an SMS message on Saturday morning that read: ‘U are the, next to die u wil pay the blood of Lazarus Kandara/Lazarus Ipangelwa’. In response, Josea sent a reply saying:’Thx for the info. God is always in control.’The threatening SMS was sent from cellphone number 0816787826 at around 08h31 on Saturday morning.He has reported the incident to the police, the human rights group Namrights, and to his lawyer, Andrè Louw. The day before he received the SMS, a white Corolla parked in front of his house, blocking the exit, on Friday night around 23h00. ‘When I went out to see what was going on, the car sped off,’ he said. ‘This is the second time I receive a death threat,’ said Josea. The first time was in 2009 when he reported to the police that he had been warned by members of the public of possible threats to his life. Josea said after reporting the matter to the police, he was subjected to a four-hour interrogation at the police head office in Jan Jonker Street. He said the interrogation was led by an inspector in the crime division, someone from State House, and one person from the State intelligence services. ‘I asked them for protection, but I never got it. Two months after that, the former Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, was given protection,’ he said. Josea said the interrogation was aimed at getting the names of those who had warned him about the possible threats. ‘The case just died there.’He said he has been subjected to harassment since he received bail in the Avid case in 2005, with police and informants parking outside his house. Josea told Namrights that he suspects the SMS to come ‘from those who have reasons to fear that I have information that will expose their involvement in the AVID-SSC case’. After seven years, the seven accused in the AVIS-Social Security Commission case have not yet pleaded. They will again appear before the High Court for a pre-trial on July 28. ‘These renewed allegations of death threats against Josea can hardly be taken lightly by us,’ said Phil ya Nangoloh of Namrights. Ya Nangoloh said the threat warrants an urgent appeal procedure under one of the 33 United Nations extra-conventional human rights mechanisms, ‘with the view to prevent the real and imminent loss of life or the enforced disappearance of Josea or even both’.