Murder accused Abner Mateus told the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court on Friday that he deliberately concealed from his nephew and co-accused, Petrus Shikwaya, that he had been arrested and was in police custody for nearly three years.
Mateus, a former police officer who is currently facing multiple criminal charges, testified during Shikwaya’s bail application hearing.
He informed the court that he was arrested in November 2022 on fraud charges and has remained in custody since then.
Mateus and Shikwaya are among six men accused of orchestrating the attack on Ondangwa prosecutor Justine Shiweda last October.
According to the state, Shiweda was shot seven times and doused with a corrosive acid during the attack. She later succumbed to her injuries in February this year.
While acknowledging that he maintained contact with Shikwaya during his incarceration, Mateus insisted that his nephew was unaware of his whereabouts.
“Since then I have been in custody. I didn’t want them to know where I was. I did not want to create the impression that I had been arrested. I only wanted them to know that I was involved in a buy-and-sell business,” Mateus testified.
He told the court that discussions with Shikwaya never included details of his criminal cases.
“There was never a time when I discussed all my court cases with him. He did not know that I had been arrested and denied bail. The only time he learned that I was in custody was when I was in Windhoek. That is when he started asking questions. I then told him I was in custody and that I had been granted bail,” he said.
Mateus also revealed that he had taken out a Sanlam insurance policy in Shikwaya’s name and would deposit N$2 000 into his nephew’s bank account each month to cover the policy premiums.
“I told him I would deposit about N$2 000 into the account for the policy. I saw him as a young boy and I was not at liberty to tell him what type of policy I had taken out or what it was for,” Mateus told the court.
He added that he instructed Shikwaya not to allow the balance in the account to fall below N$2 000 because of the policy obligations.
